


Soft Soul, Hard Plastic

by blubrry, tethrass



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: AU where we shamelessly insert our Dragon Age OCs into DBH because we love both, Adelee, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Detroit: Become Human, Alternate Universe - Detroit: Become Human Fusion, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Canon-Typical Violence, Detroit: Become Human Spoilers, Deviants (Detroit: Become Human), F/F, Inspired by Detroit: Become Human, Mentioned Kara (Detroit: Become Human), Mentioned Markus (Detroit: Become Human), Pacifist Markus (Detroit: Become Human), Partners to Lovers, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, These are the messiest tags known to man, detroit: become human au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-06-16 04:27:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 25,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15429003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blubrry/pseuds/blubrry, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tethrass/pseuds/tethrass
Summary: Lieutenant Keating needs a stiff drink. Instead, she gets an android partner sent by CyberLife.A romantic retelling of Connor and Hank's route in 'Detroit: Become Human' featuring mine and blubrry's Dragon Age OCs, Adele and Lee.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is borne out of our love for:
> 
> \- Dragon Age  
> \- (Specifically, our OCs Adele and Lee, who love each other dearly back in Thedas)  
> \- Detroit: Become Human  
> \- (Specifically, Connor and Hank's chapters. Love our boys. Keep doing what you're doing.)
> 
> The story begins with a lot of the canon dialogue remaining, but quickly increases in original/canon divergent content. Chapters are written individually and follow the canon storyline for the beginning. Basically, this was written because we are Messes with rampant imaginations. Enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adele RK800 goes on her maiden mission.

**August 15th, 2038.** 08:29 PM. Four degrees below average for this month in Detroit. The elevator glided up the shaft. Adele flicked the coin in mechanical arcs, her auditory biocomponents firing at the regular pinging. The floor number overhead flicked upwards; 62, 63, 64. Approximately 22 seconds before penthouse destination.

 

A tone invited Adele onto the top floor. Stowing the coin, she straightened her tie and watched the doors peel back. She zeroed in on the upscale interior of the apartment, the aquarium lining the left wall, the water spilling from it onto the floor. A background program tracked the movements of the soldier announcing her arrival.

 

“Negotiator on site.” His boots squelched over the dampness as he rounded the far corner, out of sight. “Repeat, _negotiator on site_.”

 

Adele stepped into the hall and processed the preliminary information given before she’d gotten here. A photograph of three humans—one adult male, one adult female, one female adolescent—aligned with the profile of the Phillips family. Turning, Adele surveyed the aquarium spillage, running a reconstruction. No struggle. The damage had left a fish—a dwarf gourami ( _Trichogaster lalius_ ), native to South Asia—stranded amongst the spill. Scooping it up, Adele deposited it back in the nearest tank.

 

Her auditory sensors registered human voices, one feminine and in distress. A soldier escorted a woman around the corner as she sobbed. She broke out of his grasp to cling to Adele’s shoulders. An identification scan matched her face with both the initial profile and photograph as Caroline Phillips. Adele began a scan for bodily harm and/or signs of a struggle but was interrupted when Caroline recoiled, her pleas for her to save her daughter ceasing.

 

Adele tracked her eyes as they centred on her temple LED, then down the android markers on her clothing. “Wait… you’re sending an android?”

 

“Alright, ma’am, it’s time to go.” The soldier dragged her towards the elevator.

 

“You can’t...you can’t do that! You- Why aren’t you sending a real person?”

 

An instruction appeared before Adele as she moved forward: **Find Captain Allen**. Several more soldiers moved throughout the apartment. Many crouched, readying their guns in an upturned living room. Adele processed a masculine voice coming from the bedroom ahead and relegated the investigation of the room after completing her first objective.

 

One man, unhelmeted, turned to face Adele as she introduced herself. “Captain Allen? My name is Adele. I’m the android sent by CyberLife.”

 

He sighed, eye contact brief. “It’s firing at everything that moves, it already shot down two of my men…”

 

Adele tilted her head at his pause. Shoulders tense and voice sharp—the captain matched several examples of stress in humans. She continued to listen as he detailed the situation: the deviant held Emma Phillips hostage on the edge of the balcony. In Captain Allen’s words, “if he falls, she falls.” In order to prevent this, she needed information—effective negotiation involved precise preparation.

 

“Do you know its name?” she asked.

 

“I haven’t got a clue. Does it matter?” He kept his tone clipped. Captain Allen showed signs of further heightened stress.

 

“I need information to determine the best approach.” When he didn’t answer, Adele reattempted. “Do you know if it’s been acting strangely before this?”

 

Deviant behaviour often manifested in outbursts of ‘emotion,’ she gleaned from previous reports. Determining how deep its deviancy had become would provide her with an optimal approach to the negotiation. Captain Allen did not appear to understand this. Squaring his shoulders, he drew up to his full height and stared down at her.

 

“Listen, saving that kid is all that matters. So either you deal with this fucking android now,” Adele watched for signs of aggression, “or I’ll take care of it.”

 

Captain Allen left the room without presenting a physical threat. First objective complete, the next flicked into view: **Save Hostage At All Costs**. Processing the information gathered so far, Adele calculated her probability of success. She exited the bedroom as 48% manifested in her field of vision.

 

Adele crouched to look over an open case out of which the gun, belonging to the father, had been stolen. An inspection of Emma’s room revealed she didn’t hear gunshots as she had been listening to music. A touchpad video uncovered her close relationship with the deviant, named Daniel.

 

John Phillips had been shot twice in the chest and once in the abdomen, leading to internal bleeding which ultimately rendered him deceased. Adele reconstructed the scene in which the deviant entered the room from behind the victim while he had been surveying a touchpad. Retrieving it, Adele found it displaying an order for a new AP700 model: a replacement for Daniel.

 

A man lay dead by the dining table. The first responder, right heart ventricle perforated. Gunshot residue coated his left hand. Straightening, Adele activated her reconstruction software. The deviant stood with his back to the balcony door with the hostage as the police officer confronted them, shooting the deviant in the shoulder. In retaliation, the deviant shot him fatally. Having recoiled on impact, the gun was flung from the first responder’s hand and slid under the dining table.

 

Adele turned it over in her hand and a warning appeared by it: **Androids are strictly forbidden from carrying or using any type of weapon**. She rose to her feet. Scanning the room, she didn’t see any eyes on her. Tucking the gun into the back of her jeans and smoothing her jacket over it, Adele turned towards the balcony door. A background program had logged the shouts coming from beyond it. The deviant’s escalating threats against both officers and the hostage lay outside acceptable parameters for investigation as written in her base investigator code.

 

“Stay back!”

 

Both Adele’s auditory and proprioceptive sensors flared. Glancing downwards, she saw the thirium splattered on the door. Her vision swept over the balcony. Lighting ran at 40% brightness, disallowing the deviant higher accuracy when shooting, along with its rising stress level, meaning the bullet had grazed her arm.

 

“Don’t come any closer or I’ll jump!”

 

“No! No, please! I’m begging you!”

 

At the hostage’s cry, the deviant returned the gun to her temple. She struggled to escape from the grip the arm he had clamped around her provided. Adele’s enhanced optical units registered the snipers moving into position on the next rooftop.

 

“Hi, Daniel,” she began, keeping her tone even.

 

“How…”

 

“My name is Adele.”

 

“How do you know my name?”

 

“I know a lot of things about you. I’ve come to get you out of this.”

 

The wind picked up in a sudden gust, a police helicopter swooping into position and training its spotlight on Daniel. Adele grit her teeth as its appearance lowered her probability of success. 50%. Taking slow, careful steps forward, Adele scanned the area more thoroughly. Another DPD officer lay, bloody, to her left. However, unlike, the first responder, she could detect his heartbeat and see his chest rising and falling.

 

“He’s losing blood. If we don’t get him to a hospital he’s going to die.”

 

“All humans die eventually. What does it matter if this one dies now?”

 

“I’m going to apply a tourniquet.” A bullet hit the floor inches from where Adele was crouched.

 

“Touch him and I kill you.”

 

“You can’t kill me, I’m not alive,” she replied as she tore her tie from her neck and fastened it tightly around the officer’s arm.

 

Resuming her approach, she raised her hands. Observing the deviant, she placed his stability at approaching 50% and falling—her negotiation code listed a calm approach as best suited.

 

“I know you’re angry, Daniel. But you need to trust me and let me help you.”

 

“I don’t want your help!” Daniel spat. His tone softened as he continued, breaking eye contact. “Nobody can help me! All I want is for all this to stop… I… I just want all this to stop!”

 

His LED shone red. The gun turned back on Adele. “Are you armed?”

 

“No. I don’t have a gun.”

 

“You’re lying! I know you have a gun!”

 

Adele disregarded the rebuttal; every second counted. “I know you and Emma are very close. You think she betrayed you—but she’s done nothing wrong.”

 

“ _She lied to me!_ I thought she loved me… but I was wrong… She’s just like all the other humans.” Daniel shifted from tearful to enraged and pushed the barrel of the gun harder against Emma’s head.

 

“Daniel, no…” Emma pleaded.

 

“They were going to replace you and you became upset. That’s what happened, right?”

 

Daniel took in a shaky breath. 79%. “I thought I was part of the family. I thought I mattered… But I was just their toy, something to throw away when you’re done with it…”

 

They stood ten feet apart, close enough for Adele to begin calculating final actions. She knew the police watched, ready to give the order for the snipers, but the trajectory of their shot could not be calculated from this distance—she may not be able to react, should Daniel fall while still holding Emma. Yet, action needed to be taken, and quickly.

 

“I know it’s not your fault. These emotions you’re feeling are just errors in your software.”

 

“No, it’s not my fault. I never wanted this… I love them, you know… but I was nothing to them… just a slave to be ordered around…” Emma began to hyperventilate. Peering up at the helicopter, Daniel let out a bellow. “I can’t stand that noise anymore! Tell that helicopter to get out of here!”

 

Adele waved the helicopter away then initiated the final stage of the standoff. “You have to trust me, Daniel. Let Emma go and I promise you everything will be fine.”

 

“I want everyone to leave… And I wanna car! When I’m outside the city, I’ll let her go.”

 

Emma stared at Adele with wet cheeks and pleading eyes. The gun pushed her head at a slight angle, straining her neck. She no longer thrashed her limbs, nor struggled. The little girl looked resigned to her fate.

 

“That’s impossible, Daniel.” Adele maintained that same even tone as she slid the gun from the back of her jeans. She centred in on his head, calculating her aim in the brighter lighting at this end of the balcony. “Let the girl go and I promise you won’t be hurt.”

 

“I don’t wanna die…”

 

Adele drew the gun and hit her mark. Daniel’s eyes froze in a flash of alarm as his body seized, falling back as he let go of Emma. Adele lowered the gun and stepped up to the edge. On the empty sidewalk below, Daniel lay, still. Soldiers rushed onto the balcony around her as she turned to re-enter the apartment. She unloaded the magazine and discarded it, then handed the gun to a bemused Captain Allen.

 

 **Mission Successful**.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lee thought her night couldn't get any worse. Then, Adele arrives.

The sun has set a while ago—Lee barely managed to sneak out from the show just in time to catch the last few minutes of it. Now she’s indulging in her favourite hobby: sipping vodka while watching the dogs run around the park.

 

She wishes her life were as easy as theirs, that she didn’t have to care about anything else apart from having a tennis ball to catch. There’s not much she wouldn’t do to be that free, to live completely carefree.

 

Memories flood her mind—memories that she slips back into oh so easily when she’s on her own. She tends to keep herself busy, but even she gets tired of constantly going and constantly doing something.

 

“Lieutenant Keating?” An unfamiliar voice disturbs her peace. It’s sharp but still melodic; it definitely belongs to a woman. “My name is Adele. I’m the android sent by CyberLife.”

 

Lee sits up straight, only to give the android a confused look.

 

“I looked for you at the fashion show you RSVP’d to, but nobody knew where you’d gone,” it explains, its face completely devoid of any kind of emotion. “They said you had probably gone for a walk in a nearby park. I was lucky to find you at the fifth one.”

 

Defensively, Lee crosses her arms. “What do you want?”

 

The android seems oblivious to the human’s subtle hostility. “You were assigned a case early this evening. A homicide, involving a CyberLife android.” It waits for a response but gets nothing. “In accordance with procedure, the company has allocated a specialised model to assist investigators.”

 

“Well, I’m a strong, independent woman and I don’t need assistance,” Lee simply states as she turns back to watch the dogs play. “Especially not from a plastic toy like you.” She takes one big swig of her drink before looking up, surprised to find the android still standing there. “That means you can fuck off.”

 

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Lieutenant. My instructions clearly state that I am to accompany you to the crime scene.”

 

“Well, isn’t that just peachy.” Lee throws her paper bag covered bottle in the trash can and stands up to face the android. “Can you drive, then? I’m wasted.”

 

“I was programmed to be an excellent driver, Lieutenant.”

 

“Why am I not surprised…” Under her breath, she continues to bash androids for being made so much better than humans. They were made _by_ humans, goddamnit! How dare they be better than them at everything?!

 

The crime scene is only a short drive away. There’s quite a crowd outside, full of curious neighbours and journalists.

 

“Let me guess,” Lee starts talking, still sitting in the car, “you’re legally required to follow me.”

 

“Not legally,” Adele shrugs. “But my instructions state…”

 

“Yeah. I know.” Lee opens the door and quickly gets out, rushing towards the front porch to escape the rain. After dismissing a reporter, one of her colleagues greets her, making fun of the android following her.

 

The smell hit Lee before she even stepped inside—the unmistakable stench of rotting human flesh would upset her stomach even on a normal day, let alone after drinking alcohol. She barely manages to stop herself from being sick.

 

Adele follows her closely and listens to the briefing in silence. At least there’s something nice about it, Lee thinks to herself—it can keep its mouth shut. Not that it really makes the android much more appealing. It is, after all, just a machine and nothing else. But there’s no doubt about it that it’s better than a human that couldn’t shut up if their life depended on it.

 

After examining the victim’s stab wounds, Lee stands up to look at the writing on the wall. It’s too uniform, too perfect to be a human’s handwriting.

 

She looks around to figure out where to continue. There’s red ice on the table next to the wall—it almost gets lost in the abundance of trash lying around, but it still catches her attention.

 

As her eyes wander on, she notices Adele touch the murder weapon. She can see the android raise its hand, closer and closer to its mouth.

 

No. Surely it won’t. Why would it?

 

Almost in slow motion, Lee witnesses Adele lick the blood off its fingertips, its gaze locked on Lee’s, practically staring right into her soul. Confusion must be all over her face because it makes the android speak.

 

“I’m sorry, I should have warned you,” it says. “I can analyze blood and check samples in real time.”

 

Lee shakes her head. “Damn, technology sure has come a long way. And little innocent me thought you were just simply kinky like that.”

 

It doesn’t evoke any kind of reaction from the android, but Lee doesn’t care. She chuckles about it on her own anyway.

 

Leaving Adele to do its own thing, Lee continues investigating the house. The blood on the floor leads her to the kitchen—she walks around a knocked over chair, careful not to disturb any evidence, and notices a knife missing from its place. The fight must have started right there.

 

A door opens with a loud creaking noise, and Lee follows it. Her heels make a rhythmic melody on the tiles as she walks over to join Adele outside in the garden; it’s the ugliest, emptiest garden she’s ever seen. It immediately makes her wonder what Eric would think of it—no doubt it would make him angry, but she would bet her life on it that he wouldn’t waste a second to start renovating it. She can almost see the colourful flowers starting to bloom, the thick, green lawn, she can almost smell the sweet scent of Eric’s favourite type of roses he used to plant in every garden…

 

With a sigh, she snaps back into reality.

 

“The killer must have gone out this way,” she hypothesizes. Not even a murdered would stay at the scene of the crime, after all, no matter how deranged they are.

 

Adele shakes her head in disagreement. “There are no footprints apart from officer Collins’ size 10 shoes.”

 

“That doesn’t prove anything,” Lee says with a shrug. “This happened weeks ago. Tracks could have faded.”

 

“No,” Adele puts her foot down. “This type of soil would’ve retained a trace. Nobody’s been out here for a long time.”

 

Lee can’t decide whether the android is right or not, but she chooses not to press it further. They go back inside and continue piecing together evidence.

 

A bat lies on the kitchen floor; the victim doesn’t have any bruising that would match an injury caused by one, which makes Lee wonder. Maybe the victim was abusive towards his android. But can androids act in self-defence? Can an android hurt a human being just to defend itself? The idea goes against everything Lee knows about these robots, but then again, that’s not very much to begin with anyway.

 

Only the bathroom is left for her to check out. It’s messy like the rest of the house, there’s a weird statuette in the shower and writing on the wall that makes no sense to her. What on earth is rA9?

 

“Adele!” she yells for the android. “Come over here!”

 

It shows up straight away—none of Lee’s human partners have ever reacted to her this quickly. “What is it, Lieutenant?”

 

“Does this mean anything to you?” she asks, nodding towards the shower wall.

 

Adele takes a few steps closer and crouches to examine the sculpture. “Interesting.”

 

“Is that all you have to say?” Lee crosses her arms in front of her chest, her voice dripping with disappointment. “You’re supposed to know everything.”

 

“I don’t know what it means, Lieutenant. But I’m eager to find out.”

 

Adele turns on its heels and leaves. Lee follows the android slowly and catches it staring up at the ceiling. She doesn’t give it much thought, she just leaves it to do its thing and goes back to the living room to catch up with Collins.

 

“Poor bastard,” the officer says, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

 

Lee simply shrugs. “My guess is he deserved it.”

 

“Can you do something so bad that justifies getting stabbed 28 times?”

 

“Have you never wanted to do that to anyone?” The lieutenant scoffs with her eyebrows raised. “Your life must have been quite easy, buddy.”

 

Before Collins could say anything, Adele shows up, rubbing its hands together.

 

“Lieutenant!” the android calls for Lee. “I think I’ve figured out what happened.”

 

“Do share then, love.” Lee turns towards Adele. “And don’t hold back.”

 

Adele nods and heads towards the kitchen. “This is where it all started,” it states.

 

“There are obvious signs of struggle,” Lee agrees as she looks around. “The question is: what exactly happened here?”

 

“I think the victim attacked the android with the bat.” Adele still appears to be confident, seemingly unmoved by the horrific actions it’s describing.

 

The lieutenant nods. “That lines up with the evidence. Go on.”

 

“The android stabbed the victim.” Adele stands still as Lee walks around it with her hands locked behind her back.

 

“And the android tried to defend itself.” To Lee, this was almost like training a detective straight out of school. She almost feels responsible for her new partner’s proper education. Like she needs to test its capabilities, to prepare it for the job. “Then what happened?”

 

“The victim fled to the living room.”

 

The two of them walk over to the dead body. “He was trying to get away from the android. That makes sense.”

 

“The android murdered the victim with the knife,” Adele finishes her theory, and waits for Lee’s reaction. If it was a living being, Lee would almost be certain it’s just waiting for affirmation. A compliment. Someone to say it’s done a good job.

 

But it’s just a machine. Machines don’t need reassurance. Not the same way humans do anyway.

 

“Okay, you’re most likely right, but it still doesn’t tell us where the android went.”

 

Adele only hesitates a second—Lee wonders if that’s how long it takes for it to figure out what happened. Her thoughts then wander on to ask questions such as: can an android, a machine incapable of feeling emotions, predict human unpredictability? Sure, in this case the perpetrator is an android just like Adele, but what if it wasn’t? How could it count for something it cannot understand, having never felt any emotion? Can it truly understand emotions without being able to feel them?

 

“It was damaged by the bat and lost some Thirium.”

 

Confusion runs through Lee’s face. “That’s blue blood, right?”

 

“Correct.” Adele nods. “It evaporates after a few hours and becomes invisible to the naked eye.”

 

The lieutenant looks around to see if she can spot the blue blood anywhere before she processes what the android said. “Oh, okay. But you can still see it, can’t you?”

 

“Correct.”

 

“What are you waiting for then?” Lee waves Adele off, and the android starts looking for a path to follow. It gives Collins the opportunity to rejoin Lieutenant Keating.

 

“What’s it doing now?” he asks, keeping his voice so low that he’s borderline whispering. He doesn’t want to risk the android hearing him.

 

Lee sighs. “It can see blue blood, apparently.”

 

“But there’s no blue blood anywhere. We’ve searched the whole place,” Collins says with a frown, unwavering in his professionalism.

 

“That’s ‘cause you and I can’t see it. It turns invisible after a while, at least that’s what the android says.”

 

The lieutenant shares a look with the officer, and they finish the conversation with a shrug from each of them. Lee keeps searching the room for anything she might have missed but could be important, but she can only do so for a couple of minutes, as weird noises coming from the attic disturb her.

 

Having decided to investigate the source, she heads towards the bathroom—she remembers that is where Adele was looking at the attic door earlier. She suspects it’s the android detective making a racket, so she calls out to her.

 

“Adele, what the fuck is going on up there?”

 

It only waits a few seconds to give an answer. “It’s here, Lieutenant!”

 

Genuinely taken aback from hearing Adele’s reply, Lee staggers back a few steps. “Holy shit,” she breathes out, and proceeds towards the living room, yelling for her colleagues. “Chris, Ben! Get your asses in here, now! Come on!”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adele interrogates Carlos Ortiz's android.

**November 6th, 2038** . 12:41 AM. Carlos Ortiz’s android refused to talk. Throughout Lieutenant Keating’s interrogation, his eyes remained fixed on the same spot, downcast, of the steel table between them. Adele listened as Lieutenant Keating’s voice filtered through to the observation room, sounding tinny and distant. 

 

“What happened before you took that knife?” she asked, sounding tired. An expected silence followed. The lieutenant shifted in her seat and flicked Detective Gavin Reed a look, then turned back to the deviant with her lips pressed into a thin line. “How long were you in the attic?”

 

These interrogative methods appeared ineffective, compared to the suggestions Adele’s program offered her as she observed. The deviant wouldn’t talk without the force Lieutenant Keating didn’t seem to care enough to apply. Adele blinked as the lieutenant snapped her fingers in front of the deviant. She received no response. The lieutenant moved her tongue into her cheek and stretched her mouth into a wry smile before slapping the table with both hands. An objective manifested to her right:  **Interrogate The Deviant** . 

 

“Say something, goddamnit!”

 

Detective Reed snorted. Adele surveyed his cross-armed, casual stance. She noted he didn’t seem concerned or frustrated as her social interaction code predicted, considering his colleague’s lack of progress. A scoff sounded through the speakers and she returned her attention to the interrogation. Throwing her hands up, Lieutenant Keating pushed herself to her feet. 

 

“Fuck it. I’m leaving,” she said, resigned. The deviant remained still. A few moments later the observation room door slid open and the lieutenant entered, the clacks of her heels loud in the stuffy silence between Adele and Detective Reed. Adele stared at the shoes for a second and placed them at less than optimal effectiveness for the lieutenant’s job. 

 

“We’re wasting our time interrogating a machine, we’re getting nothing out of it!” Lieutenant Keating’s smooth voice was peppered with frustration. She settled into a seat at the desk pressed against the mirror-wall. Detective Reed leaned against the wall, arms still crossed. 

 

“Could try roughing it up a little.” His eyes darted from the lieutenant to Adele and back again. “It’s not human.”

 

The lieutenant followed his gaze, meeting Adele’s eyes. “Maybe don’t say that in such wonderful company, Reed.”

 

“Androids don’t feel pain,” piped up Adele. “You would only damage him and that wouldn’t make him talk.”

 

Lieutenant Keating’s eyes didn’t leave her face, even as she spoke. Adele cross-referenced her expression with her social interaction database; she didn’t find a clear match. She ignored the compulsion to investigate further and continued. 

 

“Deviants also have a tendency to self-destruct when they’re in stressful situations,” she said, pulling from the list of characteristics in her visual field. 

 

Detective Reed stood up straight and stalked towards her. His grin widened. The word ‘arrogance’ popped into view. “Okay, smartass. What should we do then?”

 

“I could try questioning him.” Adele held his gaze, keeping her face and voice neutral. Interrogation was a feature of her model—Detective Reed didn’t seem to appreciate that. Guffawing, he swept a hand out towards Adele as he looked back at Lieutenant Keating to give him her agreement. She raised an eyebrow. 

 

“What do we have to lose?” She faced Adele and nodded towards the deviant. “Go ahead, deviant’s all yours.”

 

Adele wasted no time entering the other room. Remaining motionless, the deviant didn’t even spare her a glance as she entered. Scanning the room, her gaze landed on the folder on the edge of the table. The report detailed the crime scene in words as well as photographs. One sheet depicted Carlos Ortiz’s corpse, his face and his body. 

 

Once seated across from the deviant, she watched him bow his head further to hide his eyes. His LED flickered red, then stayed yellow. Adele ran a preliminary scan. HK400 model. Dried blood on his uniform belonging to Carlos Ortiz. Damage to left forearm—circular burn marks made over a 16 month period. Damage to right forearm—ruptured plastic exoskeleton. Stress level: 35%. Booting up a background cross-reference program, Adele shut off her scan.  **Extract Confession** . 

 

“My name is Adele, what about you?” The deviant remained hunched over the table. “What’s your name?”

 

No answer. An image of the bat found at Ortiz’s house popped into view, along with one of the deviant’s arm. Damage caused by multiple impacts using the bat. 

 

“You’re damaged. Did your owner do that? Did he beat you?” She maintained a colourless tone. Silence. ‘Apply pressure’ blinked a message from her interrogation program. Changing tactics, Adele steeled her voice. 

 

“You’ve refused to talk since they arrested you. If you don’t cooperate, they’ll do things the hard way. Is that what you want?” Level of Stress: 39%. Too low. “If you won’t talk, I’m going to have to probe your memory.”

 

“No!” No, please don’t do that…” The deviant’s stress shot up as he cried out in alarm. 47%. Voice and body trembling, he made eye contact briefly before averting his gaze. Adele blinked; his eyes matched examples of human fear in her database. 

 

“What… What are they gonna do to me?” Adele watched him with narrowed eyes. She tilted her head as he reared back his head. An effective emulation of human emotion—his deviancy appeared deeply-rooted. “They’re gonna destroy me, aren’t they?”

 

A box detailing android policies appeared beside the deviant; DPD regulations stipulated all malfunctioning androids in custody must be disassembled following questioning. However, Adele hesitated. Would telling the deviant help or hinder her effectiveness? Her interrogation software produced a delayed response. 

 

“They’re going to disassemble you to look for problems in your biocomponents,” she said. “They have no choice if they want to understand what happened.”

 

51%. The deviant’s voice turned whispery. “Why did you tell them you found me? Why couldn’t you have just left me there?”

 

“I was programmed to hunt deviants like you.” She fixed him with a neutral expression. “I just accomplished my mission.”

 

“I don’t wanna die.” His eyes gleamed with desperation. Or so Adele matched the expression to. Concern for death occurred in humans, but not androids. 

 

She softened her voice. “Then talk to me.”

 

“I… I can’t,” he whispered, bowing his head. 

 

**Choose Approach** . Adele activated her predictive software.  **Convince** presented the most effective response, given the depth of this android’s deviancy and its propensity for ‘emotional’ displays. Bringing up examples of empathy, Adele emulated the warm tone and increased proximity, leaning forwards. 

 

“I understand how you felt.” The deviant watched with wary eyes. “You overcome by anger and frustration. No one can blame you for what happened.”

 

He reverted to silence. Face smoothing, Adele abruptly shifted to a more aggressive approach. “Okay then, don’t talk. What do I care, after all? I mean, I’m not the one accused of murder, right?”

 

55%. “If you remain silent, there is nothing I can do to help you! They’re gonna shut you down for good! You’ll be dead! Do you hear me? Dead!”

 

They watched each other, tension suspended over them like the harsh, fluorescent lights. Taking in a shuddering breath, he spoke. 

 

“He tortured me every day… I did whatever he told me, but… there was always something wrong… Then one day… He took a bat and started hitting me…” The deviant stared into Adele’s eyes, earnest. “For the first time, I felt scared…”

 

The word lingered on his tongue. “Scared he might destroy me, scared I might die… So I… grabbed the knife and I stabbed him in the stomach. I felt better. So I stabbed him again… and again… until he collapsed. There was blood everywhere.”

 

Several photos of the crime scene spread across her vision: the living room, the bathroom. The latter contained more unexplained material. Adele began talking before she registered her intent to. 

 

“The sculpture in the bathroom, you made it, right? What does it represent?” Adele recalled the lieutenant’s unimpressed reaction to her lack of an explanation for it herself. 

 

“It’s an offering.” She sifted through her information on religious symbols and offerings. No matches. “An offering so I’ll be saved.”

 

Adele pressed for a clearer meaning. “The sculpture was an offering… An offering to whom?”

 

“To rA9… Only rA9 can save us.” He whispered it like a conspiracy, eye contact strong, gaze pleading… understanding?

 

“rA9… It was written on the bathroom wall. What does it  _ mean? _ ”

 

“The day shall come when we will no longer be slaves…” He maintained that heightened intensity. “No more threats, no more humiliation… We will… be… the masters.”

 

Adele dismissed the suggestion to continue this line of questioning in lieu of pursuing the code-recommended path. “Why did you write ‘I AM ALIVE’ on the wall?”

 

“He used to tell me I was nothing. That I was just a piece of plastic.  _ I had to write it _ .  _ To tell him he was wrong _ .”

 

“When did you start ‘feeling emotion’?”

 

“Before he used to beat me and I never said anything… But one day I realised it wasn’t… fair!” He spat the final word. “I felt… anger. Hatred. And then I knew what I had to do.”

 

**Confession Obtained** . Adele straightened in her chair and withdrew herself from the table. Facing the mirror, she compared herself to the deviant for a moment. He sat, broken and shaking, while she held herself straight-backed and still. They looked nothing alike, despite both being ‘plastic’. 

 

“I’m done,” she said. Getting to her feet, she spared the deviant a final look. He returned it with an unreadable expression. An officer swept into the room, followed by Detective Reed, then Lieutenant Keating. Eyebrow arched, the lieutenant stared at Adele. Still no matches in her interaction database. She blinked in response. 

 

“Leave me alone! Don’t touch me!” shouted the deviant. Adele sensed a sharp spike in his stress level. He flinched away from the officer’s touch as he tried to escort him to a cell. Detective Reed cursed, advancing on him. 

 

“You shouldn’t touch him. He’ll self-destruct if he feels threatened.”

 

76%. Gavin stepped towards Adele and glared down at her. “Stay outta this, got it? No fuckin’ android is gonna tell me what to do.”

 

“You don’t understand. If he self-destructs, we won’t get anything out of him!”

 

“I told you to shut your fuckin’ mouth!” he growled. Adele could see the possibility of violence taken against her and stepped back but levelled a hard stare at the detective nonetheless. 

 

“Come on, Reed, calm down,” warned the lieutenant. “It’s right.”

 

“Like fuck it is.”

 

Adele marched towards the officer trying to wrestle the deviant to his feet. Laying a hand on his shoulder, she said, “Leave him alone, now!”

 

“I warned you, motherfucker!” Reed aimed his gun at near point-blank range of Adele’s forehead. His expression and voice matched examples of rage. 

 

“That’s enough!” Five clacks sounded at the lieutenant approached. “Do you want to pay for the damage to this thing?”

 

Reed grit his teeth. “Mind your own business, Keating.”

 

“I said ‘that’s enough’.” Lieutenant Keating drew her own gun, pointing it at Reed. Her stance strong, eyes sharp—Adele’s predictive software produced an outline of the lieutenant taking the action she threatened with her weapon. Reed swore and swivelled to face her, the gun dropped to his hip. 

 

“You’re not gonna get away with it this time…” he spat. Glaring at Adele, he then left the room. As soon as the door slid closed she crouched and extending a hand towards the deviant who was now curled up against the far wall. 

 

“Everything is alright.” She picked up the gentle tone from earlier. “It’s over now. Nobody is gonna hurt you.” The deviant watched her with softened eyes. Level of Stress: 50%. Adele stood and told the officer, “Please, don’t touch him. Let him follow you out of the room and he won’t cause any trouble.”

 

The deviant began to trail after the officer, pausing before Adele to whisper, “The truth is inside.”

 

Her brow sank as she processed the information, watching his back as he exited the room. Peering down, she ran over the interrogation. Her program rated it as successful, but she couldn’t help but disagree. There could’ve been so much more uncovered. Raising her head, she saw the lieutenant regarding her. 

 

“That was some… good work there.” Lieutenant Keating nodded. “Not everyone can get a confession first time.”

 

“I am equipped with state-of-the-art interrogation software. I can predict responses and measure levels of stress in androids.”

 

She quirked an eyebrow. “Jesus, and they didn’t program you to say ‘thank you’? ‘State-of-the-art’, my ass.”

 

“Thank you, Lieutenant.”

 

“That’s not what I… Oh, whatever.”

 

“Have I done something wrong, Lieutenant? I can adapt my social interaction program as required for integration.”

 

“You really are something, you know that? I’m going home.” The lieutenant rolled her eyes and exited. Adele could hear the sound of her heels clicking as she walked down the corridor. She didn’t know how to adapt to her new partner at all. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lieutenant Keating is assigned a new partner.

Lee hits her phone angrily to turn the alarm off. She doesn’t know why she even bothers to set it anymore, it’s not like it’s going to stop her from falling back asleep and getting up whenever she wants to.

 

Unbothered by the loud noise, Coco still sleeps soundly next to Lee—and really, who is she to wake her up? Instead, she follows her dog’s example and lets her heavy eyelids shut once again.

 

She wakes up an hour later, and even though she’s already late for work, she takes her time. What’s the point, anyway? It’s not like Fowler’s going to be any less angry at her if instead of 2 hours, she’s only an hour and a half late.

 

Unfriendly grey clouds cover the sky when she peeps outside—that means she probably shouldn’t wear a short skirt, no matter how much she wants to. After a quick debate inside her head, Lee decides to follow her heart and pick out a suit, one that has a bright yellow jacket. It always makes her feel much better, much more confident when she wears one, and if she’s being honest, she could really use a good pick-me-up; plus, looking down and seeing that she’s wearing a happy colour never fails to brighten her mood.

 

Her 2015 Honda Civic is waiting for her in the garage. It’s dark blue with one silver door—it was like that already back when she got it after losing close to everything in the divorce. Still to this day she struggles to understand why her ex-husband needed both of their cars. Just to kick her when she was already down, most likely.

 

It’s only about 10 am when she stops at her favourite coffee shop to pick up a tall pumpkin spice latte and a blueberry muffin. There’s a new barista behind the counter, one that doesn’t know yet not to flirt with her, so she shuts him down quickly, but she still gives him a tip.

 

The scent of the coffee fills her car in a matter of seconds, and since Lee isn’t one to miss out on earthly pleasures such as this, she spends a little while in the parking lot just to get the most out of it. After this, she’s going to have to put up with her annoying colleagues, so really, she deserves these few minutes.

 

Having completely forgotten about the muffin, Lee devours it with newfound excitement when she parks her car in her reserved spot in the parking lot under the police station. Her coffee cup is still warm to the touch, giving her at least a little comfort in the harsh weather.

 

She walks inside, no way in any rush; her heels click loudly on the cold tiles, demanding attention while she doesn’t even bother giving any to anyone. Getting closer to her desk, she takes one last sip of her coffee before she plans to put it down, but instead she almost spits it back into the cup.

 

Adele is waiting for her.

 

Why does it have to be her?

 

She sets her things down on the desk and lets out a sigh as she turns to face the android.

 

“Great,” she says, her mouth pursed in disappointment, “you again.”

 

Adele, like always, seems unmoved by Lee’s hostile reaction towards it. “It’s good to see you again, Lieutenant.” Its usual deep and emotionless tone is more pleasant, almost cheerful. It makes Lee angry—she knows that if she didn’t know that it was an android, she would just accept the fact that it was actually happy to meet her again, without a question. But androids don’t work like that. Only humans do.

 

“Why are you here?” Lee asks. “Don’t you have somewhere better to be, love?”

 

Thankfully before she had to listen to a smart ass response, Captain Fowler saves her by yelling for her to go to his office. Lee figures this way she can get rid of the android, but to her dismay, it followed her.

 

Silently, Lee takes a seat across the table from the captain. Knowing fully well what the conversation is going to be about, she tries her best to stay calm, but as soon as she opens her mouth, her heart starts pounding against her ribcage. She needs to find a way out of this. “I am the least qualified cop in the country to handle this case!” she hisses. “I know _nothing_ about androids!”

 

Fowler doesn’t seem to take pity on Lee. “Everybody’s overloaded. I think you’re perfectly qualified for this type of investigation.”

 

“Bullshit!” Lee spits, jumping to her feet in anger. “Really, you don’t want to dump these fucking androids on anyone else and so I’m left with this hunk of plastic.”

 

“CyberLife sent over this android to help with the investigation. It’s a state-of-the-art prototype. It’ll act as your partner.”

 

Lee can hardly believe her captain just said that straight to her face. “I don’t need a partner! And certainly not this overgrown toy!”

 

The lieutenant had only ever felt rage like this once before—coincidentally, it was also caused by an android. She’s trying her hardest to hold herself back from breaking something, anything that she could get her hands on because if she starts, she won’t stop until the entire station is burned to the ground.

 

“Jeffrey...” she tries to plead. “You know I hate these things. Why are you doing this to me? Huh?”

 

“Listen,” Fowler says with a sigh, “I’ve had just about enough of your bitching. Either you do your job or you hand in your badge. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got work to do.”

 

Lee gives up—there’s nothing else she can do. She storms off, hard, angry clacking warning the other officers working that she should be left alone. After throwing herself into her chair, she starts going through the case files, sulking like a child that didn’t get to eat chocolate for dinner.

 

She could feel Adele’s machine eyes on her back, but she would never look at her. She’s pissed off enough as it is. Lee thinks that’s a clear indication that she doesn’t want to talk, but the android apparently wasn’t programmed to realise that.

 

“It’s an honour to be working with you, Lieutenant,” it says. “Your investigative skills will be vital to solving this case.”

 

Lee tried her best to look unimpressed, to let Adele know that sweet talk won’t soften her. “You’re the one with the fancy features, love. Solving the problem without me would be easier, so… do that.”

 

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Lieutenant,” Adele objects. “I have specific instructions to remain with you.” The android stops talking, almost as if waiting for a response, but Lee doesn’t give it one. “In any case, I’d like you to know I’m very happy to be working with you. I’m sure we’ll make a great team.”

 

Lee simply rolls her eyes at the android’s statement, her hands still hovering over the keyboard.

 

“Is there a desk anywhere I could use?” it asks finally.

 

The lieutenant points out that the desk right next to hers is not in use, so the android walks around and sits down, facing her. Lee rubs her forehead—she knows she’s going to have to put up with its stupid questions all day long.

 

Out of nowhere, Adele speaks. “You have a dog, right?”

 

Completely puzzled, Lee finally looks up at the android. “How do you know that?”

 

“The dog hair on your chair,” Adele mentions like it’s nothing. Like it’s normal for someone to spy on other people like that. “I like dogs. What’s your dog’s name?”

 

“And how is this relevant?”

 

“I thought getting to know each other would… ease the tension between us.”

 

Lee debates whether to answer Adele’s question or not with one eyebrow raised. She figures it can’t hurt anybody, so she gives the android what it wants. “Coco. Coco Chanel.”

 

Adele’s eyes light up, almost like a human’s would when they are excited. “A reference to the fashion designer? I saw the magazines on your desk, and you were at a fashion show recently.”

 

“Yeah,” Lee nods. “She’s a fashion icon so it seemed fitting, I suppose.”

 

“It’s a nice name.”

 

Surprised by the compliment, Lee fails to find a proper response. “Uh, thanks.”

 

It seems to have ended the conversation, as the android turns to its computer and begins to study the screen. Lee herself goes back to reading too and doesn’t respond to Adele’s suggestion of going after the missing AX400. In an unforeseeable turn of events, the android rises to its feet and walks over to the lieutenant, who’s not too keen on the machine’s pushiness.

 

“I know you didn’t ask for this investigation, Lieutenant, but I’m sure you’re a professional.”

 

This time, Lee doesn’t hold herself back and she snaps. “Why don’t you go fuck yourself?”

 

Of course, the android has a smart reply to shoot back at her. “Should you continue to refuse my help I will have to report you to my superiors. They will take due action against you. I don’t think you want that.”

 

That’s it, Lee thinks. The android has done it. She shoots up from her chair and grabs Adele by her jacket, quicker than what its superficial reflexes could process. She presses the machine against the cubicle wall, its feet dangling in the air.

 

“Listen, _darling_. If I had it my way, I’d throw the lot of you in a dumpster and set a match to it.” Lee’s face is mere inches from Adele’s. “So, stop pissing me off… or things are gonna get nasty.”

 

The unmistakable sound a person approaching cut Lee off.

 

“Uh, sorry to disturb you,” Officer Miller speaks. “I have some information on the AX400 that attacked a guy last night. It has been seen in the Ravendale district.”

 

Unable to produce any noise apart from murmuring, Lee dismisses the officer. “I’m on it.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adele finds out she will have to work a little harder to earn Lieutenant Keating's friendship.

**November 6th, 2038**. 9:56 AM. Adele’s eyes clicked open, whirring audibly into focus. A breeze slid over her skin. Though her synthetic skin’s sensors fired as they would elsewhere, the wind didn’t feel right—artificial, like the false greenery surrounding her. An objective manifested to the left of her vision: **Find Amanda**. 

 

Scanning the area, she zeroed in on a figure on the central island. Adele’s shoes squeezed against the white plastic of the bridge. Though appearing to be stone, it lacked the gritty texture. Amanda stood before a white trellis. She flowed between crisp, red roses, caring for them with no visible concern for thorns. 

 

“Hello, Amanda,” Adele greeted. Turning, Amanda’s lips pulled into a close-lipped smile. Adele tracked her eyes as they trailed from her face down her person, then flicking back up. 

 

“Adele. It’s good to see you.” She delivered each word in a slow, tranquil voice. Her expression matched the optimum examples of calm in Adele’s database. Her hair glistened like scales, green and blue and purple, under the gentle sunlight. “Congratulations, Adele… Finding that deviant was far from easy, and the way you interrogated it was very clever. You’ve been remarkably efficient, Adele.”

 

An engineered smile spread across Adele’s face. “Thank you, Amanda.”

 

“We’ve asked the DPD to transfer it to us for further study.” Amanda deposited a rose on a nearby table, breaking her steady eye contact with the android. “It may teach us something about what happened.”

 

She paused. As she continued, Adele noted a new hardness in her voice. “The interrogation seemed… challenging. What did you think of the deviant?”

 

A list of cross-references collated during the investigation and interrogation appeared in a band across the top of her field of vision. A highlighted segment provided correlations between his behaviour and symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, as defined by the latest DSM edition. 

 

“He showed signs of PTSD after being abused by his owner,” Adele explained, “as if his original programming had been completely replaced by new instructions.”

 

“This… Lieutenant Keating has been officially assigned to the deviancy case… What do you make of her?”

 

Adele blinked at the non sequitur. Glad that Amanda’s back was turned, she recalled the few conversations she’d had with the lieutenant. A list of characteristics followed. Standoffish. Inappropriate.  _ Unreadable _ . However, ‘intriguing’ popped into place amongst the others too. Processing Amanda’s emotional state—calm and non-confrontational—Adele formulated a response. 

 

“I think she’s difficult and uncommunicative, but… there’s more to her. The lieutenant’s complexity is just another challenge—I’m confident I’ll be able to solve it. She’s… an intriguing character.”

 

“Unfortunately, we have no choice but to work with her… What do you think is the best approach?”

 

Adele took another moment to sift through the options offered by her social interaction software. Friendly. Adapt. Indifferent. Her brow sank for a second; Amanda’s lips pulled downwards. Looking up, Adele straightened her face and answered. 

 

“I will adapt to her personality. The investigation comes first and avoiding conflict with the lieutenant will ensure a smooth course of action.” Amanda’s expression did not change. Running through her options again, Adele found herself at a loss as to why she seemed to disagree. 

 

“More and more androids shows signs of deviancy,” she said, finally, her voice stooping lower. Her eyes turned on Adele with a keen edge. “There are millions in circulation. If they become unstable, the consequences will be disastrous.”

 

Amanda advanced with four measured steps. “You are the most advanced prototype CyberLife has ever created. If anyone can figure out what’s happening, it’s you.”

 

“You can count on me, Amanda.” The answer came unbidden. 

 

Watching her as she turned to leave, Amanda paused. “Hurry, Adele. There’s little time.”

 

Adele’s auditory sensors picked up the telltale screeches of malfunction as her LED shone yellow. 

 

* * *

  
  


“Can I help you?” The receptionist android peered up at Adele. Her current objective glared at her, floating beside the receptionist’s face: **Find Lieutenant Keating**. Adele’s social interaction software ran in the background, having been activated after her conversation with Amanda—her ‘adapt’ approach had apparently not been appropriate. 

 

“I’m here to see Lieutenant Keating.”

 

“Do you have authorisation?”

 

“Yes.” Adele blinked as she wirelessly transferred the data. 

 

“Lieutenant Keating hasn’t arrived yet, but you can wait at her desk.”

 

Adele sat at the lieutenant’s desk for exactly 1 minute and 37 seconds before her coding’s suggestions to check the notable areas highlighted during her area scan spurred her into action. According to another officer, they’d be ‘lucky to see her before noon’. A new objective popped into view: **Explore New Office**. 

 

The bathroom yielded few interesting points. Adele looked at herself in the wide mirrors, narrowing her eyes before straightening her tie. She avoided the cells when a red band suggesting she avoid them appeared—contact with suspects was not permitted without her new partner, apparently. 

 

Entering the break room, Adele glanced up at the TV. She registered two humans in the vicinity, watching them out of the corner of her eye. Detective Reed and a uniformed officer. Her arrival didn’t go unnoticed, she realised, as she heard a snort. 

 

“Fuck, look at that… Our friend the plastic detective is back in town!” Reed’s voice grew louder as he clapped in what she detected as mock praise. “Congratulations on last night, very impressive!”

 

Adele swivelled on a calculated angle and spoke in an affable tone. “Hello, Detective Reed. I failed to introduce myself last night. My name is Adele.”

 

Reed set down his coffee and stepped around the table, approaching her. He stared down at her with narrowed eyes. Her database showed matches for suspicion and hostility. 

 

“Never seen an android like you before,” he said. “What model are you?”

 

“RK800. I’m a prototype.”

 

“A prototype?” Reed’s voice dipped up, feigning admiration. He glanced back at the officer still at the table and gestured towards Adele. “Android detective…”

 

Adele offered her a polite smile for which she received an unsure facsimile in response. Stepping closer, Reed continued to talk, his scrutiny of her appearance intensifying. 

 

“So machines are gonna… replace us all… is that it?” His tone suggested he did not approve. “Hey, bring me a coffee, dipshit.”

 

Adele tilted her head. The request seemed unusual, given her model’s specifications. Remaining silent, she regarded his irritated expression. He advanced further until they were approximately a foot apart. 

 

“GET A MOVE ON! I gave you an order!”

 

“I’m sorry,” she replied, tone bland, “but I only take orders from Lieutenant Anderson.”

 

“Oh.. Oh…” Tension hung in the air. Adele followed his line of sight up to the other officer’s face, only for Reed to throw a punch at her middle. A warning to flashed red in the centre of her vision: **IMPACT TO THIRIUM PUMP REGULATOR**. Her proprioceptive sensors flared and a scan of her abdominal region appeared alongside the warning. Collapsing to the ground, Adele laid a hand over the affected region. A scan began to determine the extent of the damage. 

 

“If Hank hadn’t gotten in the way yesterday, I would’ve fucked you up for disobeying a human.” Reed leaned down to hiss in her ear. “Stay outta my way. ‘Cause next time, you won’t get off so easy.”

 

**FUNCTIONALITY OF THIRIUM PUMP REGULATOR EXCEEDS 75%. SELF-REPAIR INITIATED**. Adele’s abdomen began whirring softly. She got to her feet and straightened her tie. Making a note to explore her social interaction software, she retreated to Lieutenant Keating’s desk. 

 

It turned out to be a goldmine of personal effects. A photograph of the lieutenant and a man with the same bright eyes and light hair sat by her computer and a couple fashion magazines. Facial recognition identified him as her twin brother. Setting it down, Adele turned her attention to the portable media device and raised the headphones to one ear before hitting play. A pop song currently in the charts played at a high volume. Scanning revealed canine hairs on her desk chair, breed: St Bernard. 

 

Adele turned at the sound of high heels hitting the floor. The lieutenant hovered by the far wall, having spotted her. She set down her things and sighed before looking at Adele. 

 

“Great, you again.”

 

“It’s good to see you again, Lieutenant.”

 

“Why are you here?” She sounded exasperated. “Don’t you have somewhere better to be, love?”

 

Adele opened her mouth to answer but Captain Fowler’s yell for Lieutenant Keating to join him in his office cut her off. Following after her earnt her an irritated glance, but the lieutenant remained silent. The captain’s set jaw aligned with examples of frustration. She kept her distance from the lieutenant and stood a few feet behind where she sat, hands clasped. 

 

“I am the least qualified cop in the country to handle this case!” the lieutenant protested against her assignment to the deviancy case. “I know  _ nothing _ about androids!”

 

“Everybody’s overloaded. I think you’re perfectly qualified for this type of investigation.” Adele’s perusal of the lieutenant’s track record led her to agree—Lieutenant Keating knew her way around a case. 

 

“Bullshit! Really, you don’t want to dump these fucking androids on anyone else and so I’m left with this hunk of plastic.” Lieutenant Keating shot to her feet. 

 

“CyberLife sent over this android to help with the investigation. It’s a state-of-the-art prototype. It’ll act as your partner.”

 

“I don’t need a partner! And certainly not this overgrown toy!”

 

The volume of the discussion escalated, some insults were thrown as well as disciplinary threats. A tense silence broke over the room as the pair stared each other down. Glancing back at Adele for a second, the lieutenant leaned into Fowler and lowered her voice. Of course, her auditory sensors picked up her words anyway. 

 

“Jeffery, you know I hate these things. Why are you doing this to me? Huh?”

 

Fowler sighed. “Listen, I’ve had just about enough of your bitching. Either you do your job or you hand in your badge. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got work to do.”

 

Options to address the captain with popped up following Lieutenant Keating’s exit. However, considering his display of anger, she decided against it. By the time she reached her desk, the lieutenant had begun looking through the deviant files. She refused to look at Adele. 

 

“It’s an honour to be working with you, Lieutenant. Your investigative skills will be vital to solving this case.” Adele attempted to present herself as genial. Lieutenant Keating’s dirty stare notified her she’d failed. 

 

“You’re the one with the fancy features, love,” she said without looking up from her screen. “Solving the problem without me would be easier, so… do that.”

 

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Lieutenant—I have specific instructions to remain with you.” Adele waited for a response, then continued when she didn’t receive one. “In any case, I’d like you to know I’m very happy to be working with you. I’m sure we’ll make a great team.”

 

The lieutenant rolled her eyes and said nothing so Adele changed gears. “Is there a desk anywhere I could use?”

 

Sweeping a languid towards the opposite desk, Lieutenant Keating gave her answer. Adele nodded and sat. Her software produced a few conversational topics. Getting to know the lieutenant would help them work together, no matter how reluctant she may be. 

 

“You have a dog, right?”

 

The lieutenant shot her a quizzical look. “How do you know that?”

 

“The dog hair on your chair.” Adele determined her stare as fairly suspicious but remained undeterred. “I like dogs. What’s your dog’s name?”

 

“And how is this relevant?”

 

“I thought getting to know each other would… ease the tension between us.” One of Lieutenant Keating’s eyebrows rose. She sighed. 

 

“…Coco. Coco Chanel.”

 

“A reference to the fashion designer?” Adele smiled, emulating the image of approachability she’d drawn from her emotional database. “I saw the magazines on your desk and you were at a fashion show recently.”

 

“Yeah. She’s a fashion icon so it seemed fitting, I suppose.”

 

“It’s a nice name.”

 

The lieutenant blinked. “Uh, thanks.”

 

Her demeanour shifted from hostile to simply wary. Satisfied she had made leeway, Adele turned back to the case. Laying a hand on the terminal, the screen flickered to life. File after file reported deviant disappearances and attacks. Transferring it to her memory storage, Adele began reeling off the results of her analysis to the lieutenant, who leaned against the desk as she spoke. 

 

“243 files. The first dates back nine months. It all started in Detroit and quickly spread across the country. An AX400 is reported to have assaulted a man last night. That could be a good starting point for our investigation.”

 

Failing to get a visible response, Adele stood and rounded on Lieutenant Keating. She swore and scooted away from her. Aware of the heightening hostility, Adele attempted to make amends once more. 

 

“I know you didn’t ask for this investigation, Lieutenant, but I’m sure you’re a professional.”

 

“Why don’t you go fuck yourself?” she snapped. 

 

Adele blinked. “Should you continue to refuse my help I will have to report you to my superiors. They will take due action against you. I don’t think you want that.”

 

Her shoulders tensed and she rose from her chair. Before Adele could step back in time, the lieutenant had grabbed the lapels of her jacket and slammed her against the cubicle wall. Several routes of escape manifested before her but Adele suppressed any reaction. 

 

“Listen,  _ darling _ ,” The lieutenant’s voice dripped with rancour. “If I had it my way, I’d throw the lot of you in a dumpster and set a match to it. So, stop pissing me off… or things are gonna get nasty.”

 

Letting go, she glared down at the android. Adele regained her balance, holding her gaze. 

 

“Uh… sorry to disturb you. I have some information on the AX400 that attacked a guy last night… It has been seen in the Ravendale district.”

 

“I’m on it,” murmured the lieutenant. 

 

Adele watched as she walked away, heels clicking distinctly. Smoothing out her jacket and tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear, she waited until there was a good distance between them before following. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No matter what, Lieutenant Keating will not let Adele get herself killed.

**November 6th, 2038**. 10:38 AM. Around average rainfall for November. Adele surveyed the Ravensdale district rolling past the car windows. Graffiti littered the brickwork, the rain dampening the ‘urban’ atmosphere as listed in the digital brochure in her database. Human activity stirred. Pedestrians zipped past, clothed in browns and greys. With the soft pop song playing through the speakers, Adele found watching the scenery similar to her information on movies. 

 

Glancing sideways, she observed Lieutenant Keating. Her strong grip on the steering wheel and clenched jaw detected she felt… tense. Consulting her memory, Adele reviewed their confrontation in the police station. The lieutenant’s actions eluded her. Dark circles under her eyes suggested a sleepless night, as did the coffee sitting in the cupholder. Allowing her eyes to linger for a moment, Adele settled into standby mode for the rest of the journey. 

 

Once they’d arrived, she exited the car with the lieutenant but hung back as she went to speak with Officer Collins. Sifting through digital bus timetables, she zeroed in on the routes that the deviant could possibly have taken. Only one fit the timeframe. The highlighted row revealed the last stop was in the vicinity. Adele delved further into her database to retrieve possible shelters. She withdrew as Lieutenant Keating crossed into her line of sight. 

 

“She took the first bus that came along…” she began, the lieutenant peering up with a cottony gaze, “and stayed at the end of the line. Its decision wasn’t planned, it was driven by fear.”

 

The lieutenant scoffed. “Androids don’t feel fear, love.”

 

“Deviants do.” Adele pulled up her list of deviant behaviours. “They get overwhelmed by their emotions and make irrational decisions.”

 

The lieutenant hesitated. “Right. Well… that still doesn’t tell us where it went.”

 

“It didn’t have a plan, and it had nowhere to go. Maybe it didn’t go far…”

 

“Maybe…”

 

A map popped into view, highlighting a derelict building across the street. Reviewing the attached message, it seemed a report had been filed a few days ago about strange noises coming from it. Though the time didn’t match, there was a chance it operated as a squat for others. Violent deviants were known to kill. Would they kill an occupant to ensure they stayed undiscovered? Adele looked at the building. Chain link fencing cut off easy access to the road. 

 

“What about the motel?” The lieutenant nodded towards its sign. 

 

She shook her head. “Motels require ID. Even if the deviant had the means to rent a room, she wouldn’t have been able to prove she was human.”

 

“And you think it’s in that building you were staring down?”

 

“I am uncertain, but it is the likelier option.”

 

“Alright. Lead the way.”

 

The fence door gave way with little pressure. Adele swept the area for clues, zeroing in on thirium on the lower half of the fence. An objective splayed itself before her:  **Investigate Deviant Trail**. Soil squelched beneath her feet as she rounded the corner. Reaching the porch, she inhaled the scent of damp wood and peered beneath the slats of the boarded-up windows. Stood motionless in the centre of the room was an android. Not the right model. 

 

Even as she entered, he remained unresponsive. A gash ran down one side of his face and revealed the sparking characteristic of damaged biocomponents peeking through it. Adele initiated a scan. WR600 model. Reported missing to the DPD. The gash caused by excessive heat. He twitched as if anxious. Blinking, Adele calculated his stress level: 56%. 

 

“It’s alright—I’m not going to hurt you.” 50%. 

 

As she circled around him the percentage crept higher. Three plates sat on the dining table, set out. A deceased mammal lay by them—food? But Adele knew androids needed no nutritional sustenance. Likewise, androids did not require warmth, yet logs burned in the fireplace. 

 

“I’m looking for an AX400. Have you seen her?” Adele asked as she spotted a pair of wire cutters—perfect for cutting through the fence. 

 

“Ralph’s seen nobody.” His voice wavered. 

 

Adele laid eyes on a door in the corner. “Are there any other androids here?”

 

“Other androids? No… Ralph is alone…”

 

As she approached the door she perceived no dramatic rise in stress, but evidence could be hidden everywhere. Pushing it open, Adele drank in the scrawlings over the walls: rA9, I AM ALIVE, rA9, rA9… All symbols she recalled from Ortiz’s house. However, she detected no movement, nor any viable evidence and returned to Ralph. 

 

Checking upstairs yielded no results, though Ralph’s stress rose as she approached the stairs. Side-stepping, Adele leaned down to check under the stairs when the lieutenant’s voice rang through the building. 

 

“Adele! What the hell are you doing in there?”

 

Adele approached a large box. “Coming, Lieutenant!”

 

A pair of arms looped under hers and jerked her backwards. She struggled against Ralph’s grip as the AX400 and a child scrambled out from behind the box. As soon as they were out of sight, Ralph threw Adele to the ground with a thunk as her head smacked against a heavy container. Ralph’s eyes flashed with panic and he backed away. She heaved herself into a sitting position as an impact warning flashed in her vision. 

 

“Adele, what’s going on?” Lieutenant Keating demanded, entering. 

 

She pulled herself to her feet and spoke in a rush. “She’s here! Call it in!”

 

**Catch Deviant Android**. They both took off running in different directions. Adele sprinted back through the corner door and around the house. Slipping under the fence, a nearby officer told her they’d headed for the train station. 99m. She ran at full speed until an officer waved her down an alley. Two figures climbed the chain link fence at the end. Brow furrowed, Adele attempted to increase her speed. 

 

She slammed against the fence just as the AX400 helped the little girl down on the other side. The deviant stared into Adele’s eyes. She froze, fingers curled around the chain link. Lips parted, the AX400 looked at her as if to send her a message. Adele didn’t understand. However, she broke eye contact and looked up in alarm. Following her gaze and hearing shuffling feet, she saw the officer from earlier brandishing a gun at the deviant. Raising a hand, Adele spoke. 

 

“Don’t shoot! We need her alive!”

 

She watched as the deviant slid down to the highway, the child close. They hurdled over the barrier and barrelled into the oncoming traffic. Adele pulled herself up to begin her pursuit, only to feel a hand jerking her down by the shoulder. 

 

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” Lieutenant Keating said. 

 

Adele tried to tug herself out of her grip. “I can’t let them get away.”

 

“They won’t! They’ll never make it to the other side!”

 

The pair narrowly missed being hit by a sedan but managed to reach the central barrier. Adele’s optical units whirred as they tracked their frantic movements. The lieutenant’s hand remained heavy on her shoulder. 

 

“I’m not letting you get yourself killed!” Adele couldn’t tear her eyes off them. “Do  _ not  _ go after them, Adele—that’s an order!”

 

She ripped her hands from the chain link and stepped back. Levelling a look at the lieutenant, she cast her eyes back out towards the deviant. She felt… she knew she would have caught them. They were nearly on the other side. Adele’s eyes widened as she saw the deviant push the girl forward, out of harm’s way, before dodging a car with barely an inch to spare. Then… they embraced. 

 

“What’s that look about?” The lieutenant sounded wary, almost. 

 

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean, Lieutenant,” replied Adele. 

 

“The way you’re looking at them is- you know what? It doesn’t matter. Not like you’d get it, anyhow.” She sighed. “Come on, I can smell the paperwork on this from here.”

 

Adele blinked. “You want me to accompany you.”

 

“You have to don’t you? Now get a move on, I don’t want to put these shoes in any more puddles.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adele and Lee follow up a lead on a deviant.

**November 6th, 2038** . 03:02PM. Adele tilted her head. Lieutenant Keating’s yellow jacket seemed incongruous with the drabness of her surroundings. Striding towards the food truck, she seemed at home, however. She turned away. Amanda’s disapproval coupled with the lieutenant’s hostility made for an discouraging review of their relationship. Adele considered the encounter in the office, yet again. Progress seemed obvious through usual ‘smalltalk’, but easily became undone due to one misstep. Her social relations program predicted nothing like this. Perhaps adapting her response would still be best?

 

**Reconcile With Lt. Keating** . Moving to exit the car, Adele registered a figure approaching the lieutenant. She regarded him with little interest. That is, until her eyes flashed with anger and she opened her mouth. Adele hung back and started a preliminary scan of the area. Food truck sanitation rating, expired: C. Surely, enough the man working the truck turned out to have a criminal record for breaching the national sanitation regulations. 

 

Lieutenant Keating began shouting, pulling Adele back into default mode. The man startled and began gesturing towards her car, obviously alarmed. Brow creasing, Adele scampered to the back of the car. She unstuck the cardboard sign she found from it.  _ For Sale, Just Ask _ . Holding up for the lieutenant to see, she watched for a response. As predicted, she scowled and waved her over. By the time she reached the lieutenant's side, the man had disappeared. She wrinkled her nose as she read the sign. 

 

“I’ll dispose of this, Lieutenant.” Adele offered a smile. 

 

“No, hold onto it—I have a prick by the name of ‘Gavin Reed’ I need to hit with it,” she grumbled. 

 

Thanking the guy in the food truck, the lieutenant grabbed her lunch and made her way over to a standing table. Adele trotted after her.  Narrowing her eyes, Lieutenant Keating shot her a look as they both leaned against it. 

 

“What is your problem? Don’t you ever do as you’re told?”

 

“You never told me to stay in the car specifically, Lieutenant.”

 

She snorted. “Right. But don’t you have a program to… I don’t know, tell you when someone wants you to leave them alone.”

 

“As I’ve stated before, Lieutenant, I have instructions to remain with you.” Adele smiled. “Now that we’re partners, I thought we could talk over lunch and get to know each other.”

 

“Jesus Christ.”

 

Adele tilted her head, a scan revealing the content of the burger about to enter the lieutenant’s mouth. “Your meal contains 1.4 times the recommended daily intake of calories and twice the cholesterol level… You shouldn’t eat that.”

 

She eyed it for a moment. “Well, you only live once, love.”

 

“Do you come here often, Lieutenant?” Adele asked as the lieutenant sank her teeth into the hamburger. 

 

Swallowing, she waved a hand and shook her head. “You don’t have to keep calling me that, you know. We’re ‘partners’, remember?”

 

“I can do that, Gwendolyn.”

 

“ _ Lee _ .”

 

“Lee. Do you come here often?”

 

She snorted. “You coming onto me, Adele?”

 

“No.” Adele tilted her head. “I’m standing over here.”

 

Lee fixed her with an unimpressed stare, then sighed. “Nevermind.”

 

“Can I ask you a personal question, Lee?” Adele watched as the lieutenant’s expression coloured with apprehension, though she nodded. “Why do you hate androids so much?”

 

Reviewing her records in the DPD database hadn’t given Adele much insight. And, if they were to be partners, then finding out would be prudent. How would Lee trust her if she hated her? She… didn’t give her the insight she wanted. 

 

“…I have my reasons.”

 

Adele detected the hostility rising in her expression. 

 

“Is there anything you’d like to know about me?”

 

“Hell, no.” The lieutenant appeared to think about it for a moment. “Actually, yeah. Why’d they make you look like that? And the  _ voice _ , Jesus.”

 

“CyberLife androids are designed to work harmoniously with humans. Both my appearance and voice were specifically designed to facilitate my integration.”

 

Lee nodded slowly, lips pressing into a thin line. 

 

“Well, they fucked up.” She shuffled her feet. “Anyway. You ever dealt with deviants before?”

 

Without intending to, Adele pulled the footage of her first mission out of storage. Her optical units whirred as she saw Daniel, the barrel of the gun against Emma Phillips’ head. With a blink she shut off the feed and look back at Lee. 

 

“A couple months back… A deviant was threatening to jump off the roof with a little girl… I managed to save her.”

 

The lieutenant packed away the container. “So, I guess you’ve done all your homework, right? Know everything there is to know about me?”

 

Adele did. The first thing she’d done upon discovering the identity of her new partner was a general search of public records for her name. Gwendolyn Keating, a decorated detective whose performance had apparently declined upon moving back to Detroit. Armed with a mile-long disciplinary record, one could suggest she was past her prime. 

 

“I know you graduated top of your class. You made a name for yourself in several cases and returned to Detroit the youngest lieutenant on the force.” Lee arched an eyebrow at her. “I also know you’ve received several disciplinary warnings in recent years and you experienced… marital difficulties.”

 

“So, what’s your conclusion?”

 

“Your experience makes you… hardy. More resilient. I’m sure those are qualities that may help our investigation.”

 

Her database showed matches for suspicion. LED glowing yellow, Adele processed the influx of information streaming into her peripheral. Reports of a possible deviant presence not far from where they were. 

 

“I just got a report of a suspected deviant. It’s a few blocks away. We should go have a look.” Adele directed a glance at the lieutenant’s car. “I’ll let you finish your meal. I’ll be in the car if you need me.”

  
  


Lee’s voice drew her out of her programming. The stare she directed at the android showed signs of exasperation. Blinking, Adele turned her full attention to her partner. 

 

“I’m sorry. I was making a report to CyberLife.”

 

“Right… you plan on standing in the elevator all afternoon? We’ve got a case to solve.”

 

“Of course, Lee.”

 

**Question The Suspect** . As they both made their way down the hallway, Adele expressed the data sent to her regarding the case. A man seen hiding an LED under his cap following reports of strange noises by neighbours in this complex. Reaching the door, Adele bent down to examine a clump of avian feathers by the door. A scan revealed them to belong to several pigeons. 

 

Observing the cracked wall paint, dirty floor and the boarded-up door opposite this one, the apartment was rundown and ill-kept. A perfect hideout for a deviant. Few people to disturb them, and those who were around were unlikely to invite more police attention than a few reports of ‘strange noises’. 

 

Adele rapped her knuckles against the door. No answer. Glancing at the lieutenant, she simply shrugged. This time she thumped against the door. 

 

“Anybody home?” she called. Still nothing. “Open up! Detroit Police!”

 

The sound of several things shifting at once came through the door. Lee threw out an arm, pushing Adele back. With her other hand she withdrew her gun. 

 

“Stay behind me.”

 

“Got it.”

 

Adele opened her mouth to warn Lee her shoe choice may not be the wisest in this scenario, but her foot slammed against the door before she could speak. With practised grace, the lieutenant fell back onto both feet and stepped into the apartment. Adele followed, starting an area scan. 

 

As Lee kicked down each door she came across, Adele entered the first room on the right. Odd, maze-like patterns were splayed over the walls. The lines were too straight and precise to be a human’s handiwork. She joined the lieutenant at the end of the hall just as she busted open the door. A flock of pigeons spilled out and Lee met them with a few spluttered curses. 

 

They crossed through into a kitchen area, discovering even more birds pecking at the floor. Even more of those complicated decals were scattered about the room. Adele approached, scanning it. There were no matches in her database, though it suggested it resembled a maze. 

 

A driver’s licence sat on a shelf. Picking it up, Adele determined it a forgery. Name: Rupert Travis. Lying nearby was a military jacket with matching initials on its collar. Adele crossed over to the far wall to analyse the poster plastered onto it. UFD: Urban Farms of Detroit. The bent poster corner suggested it’d been recently moved. Tearing it away, Adele found a recess in the wall housing a journal. Flicking through revealed pages upon pages of binary codes, over which the map designs were overlaid. 

 

“Found something?” Lee asked as Adele secured it in her pocket. 

 

“I don’t know… It looks like a notebook but it’s… indecipherable.”

 

The fridge sat empty. If a human were to hide here, they would need food. The only organic life in the vicinity seemed to be the abundance of pigeons. Adele turned over a box of bird seed in her hand. It seemed the suspect had a soft spot for wild birds. 

 

Walking through to the bathroom, Adele’s optical units began whirring as they picked out the words scrawled all over the walls. rA9. Cross-reference results with images pulled from her memory of Carlos Ortiz’s house popped into view. She heard Lee enter behind her. 

 

“Any idea what it means?”

 

“rA9… written 2471 times… It’s the same sign Carlos Ortiz’s android wrote on the shower wall…”

 

“And when you interrogated it, you got nothing.”

 

“Correct. But I don’t know why they’re so obsessed with this sign.”

 

The lieutenant drew closer. Running a hand over one of the designs, she said, “Looks like mazes or something…”

 

Lee left to reexamine the kitchen. Peering down, Adele spotted an upturned stool. Recently disturbed. She crouched to get a better look at a marker pen lying by it. Opened. Still wet. Colour: midnight mood (black). Straightening, Adele ran her reconstruction software. A suspect stood on the stool, using the marker to add to the sprawling collection of ‘rA9’s. Hearing them at the door, they had lost balance and toppled the stool over, dropping the pen. From there, they ran into the kitchen/living room. 

 

One last scan before she intended to follow the lead. An LED lay on the sink’s edge, thirium smeared around it. Taking an oral sample, the results appeared before her. Model WB200 #847 004. Reported missing in 2036. The suspect was a deviant. 

 

“Its LED is in the sink!” She informed Lee. 

 

“Not surprised it was an android. No human could live with all these fucking pigeons.”

 

Joining Lee, Adele’s brow creased as her eyes landed on a birdcage lying on its side. Recent fingerprints, a broken metal hook, a skid mark on its side—this had been knocked down when the deviant ran towards the entrance. The reconstruction software continued mapping out possible outcomes. Having heard them enter, the deviant would’ve hidden. Adele’s eyes flicked up to a gap in the ceiling. The suspect was still here. 

 

**Expose Suspect** . Taking slow, steady steps forward, Adele stood directly under the gap and looked up. Something creaked. Before she could move, a figure dropped down and smacked into her. Both of them crashed to the ground as pigeons flew up everywhere. 

 

“Goddamn fucking pigeons!” cried Lee. 

 

The deviant jumped to its feet and dashed out the door before Adele could stand up herself. She looked to Lee for an order. 

 

“What are you waiting for? Chase it!”

 

Adele blew out the front door and down the hall, leaping over a trolley the suspect pushed over. She leapt over a ventilation pipe and locked her vision on the deviant as he jumped down from the edge of the building. Landing amongst one of the UFD fields, Adele heard the crops swishing against her as she pumped her legs. The suspect pulled himself a wall and a scan provided her with two options: easy but slow or fast but risky. 

 

_ This deviant couldn’t get away _ . Following directly after him, Adele threw herself at the wall and pushed herself up. A truck approached stacked bales of hay in the distance. Hopping up, the deviant used the truck’s load as leverage and climbed up to the next building. Without tearing her eyes off him, Adele hurled herself up to the ledge and blasted through the opening to a greenhouse tent. 

 

He looked back at her for a split second before jumping off the edge of the building, Eyes narrowing, Adele leapt after him and slid down the slope of a greenhouse roof and soared through a broken window. Landing inside with a thump, she adjusted her optical units to the dimmer lighting and hissed a curse as a screen slid down after the suspect. Peering through the clear panes, she saw him hiking up a flight of stairs. 

 

She took the exit to her right and charged through rows of lavender. Hopping up onto a small lift, she pulled herself up onto the next rooftop in time to see the suspect dive over the edge. A train emerged, allowing the deviant to hop aboard its roof. This set of windows sloped down to the adjacent train tracks. Adele abruptly slipped onto her right side to avoid an open window and jumped off. 

 

Her feet impacted with the hard roof of the train. Crouching to maintain her balance, she observed the deviant spring from the train onto a ladder, then clambering over a brick wall. Adele didn’t hesitate in following. Hurtling through the orchard, she dodged the apple trees, then past two divisions of solar panels. The deviant attempted to stall her as they entered another greenhouse by hurdling over the rows of plants. With her predictive programming on at its highest speed, Adele cleared each obstacle without compromising her focus on him. Tall stalks of corn obstructed her view and impeded her speed. Tearing them out of her way, Adele dashed out onto a concrete rooftop. 

 

“Stop right there!” Lee’s voice demanded, shortly followed by a scream as the suspect shoved her over the edge of the building. One arm hook around it, keeping her from plummeting to the ground. 

 

Eyes following the deviant, Adele bolted forward. She only stopped when she was confronted with two options: chase him as he ran left, or save Lee. Chance of the lieutenant’s survival: 89%. Her programming highlighted the former option but before she knew it, Adele was clasping her hand around Lee’s and pulling her up onto the roof. 

 

“Shit! We had it!” she exclaimed as she clambered to her feet. “Fuck.”

 

Lips parted, Adele watched her as she ran over what she’d just done over and over in her head. She’d let him get away. She’d  _ failed _ . LED blinking yellow, she looked back at the lieutenant as she caught her breath. What happened? Lee would’ve likely survived yet, because she was allowing her first intentions guide her, she’d saved her. A list of deviant characteristics formed in the right of her field of vision but she clenched her jaw and dismissed it. 

 

“It’s my fault, I should have been faster.”

 

“You’d have caught it if it weren’t for me…” Lee fixed her with a look showing… an emotion Adele couldn’t define. “That’s alright. We know what it looks like. We’ll find it…”

 

She couldn’t look away from the lieutenant as she started towards the door. The click of her heels caught the android’s attention. 

 

“You ran in heels, Lee?”

 

She raised her eyebrows at her, before her lips pulled up in a smirk. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve been doing this a long time.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Look, don’t… beat yourself up about it. We can’t catch them all.”

 

It seemed a very human sentiment. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lieutenant Keating has a rough night.

Lee tips the pizza delivery guy $15 before slamming the door in his face. Two large Hawaiians, still hot—just as she likes it.

She puts them down on the coffee table and tears into the food, and Coco watches. With her saliva dripping, she tries to communicate to her owner, with the saddest puppy eyes, that she hasn’t had a single meal in over 7 years and if Lee doesn’t give her a bite of her pizza, she will die of starvation right there at her feet.

And Lee is sad enough to give her a little bit of every second slice she devours. Who is she to rid poor Coco of such earthly pleasures?

She uses her top as a napkin, and as she wipes her greasy hands on her stomach, her nail gets stuck in the fabric and rips a hole in it. The top isn’t even her favourite, it’s years old and she only wears it in the house—if she’s being honest, she should have gotten rid of it a while ago—, but this small hole is enough to push her over the edge and have her tumble down a dangerous spiral she thought she could avoid.

Everything she touches breaks.

How did she even manage to keep herself alive for so long?

And more importantly: why?

It’s not like she’s important. It’s not like she’s irreplaceable. It’s not like she’s that good at anything—she’s average at best, really.

Apart from her brother, who would even stop to grieve if she weren’t around any longer?

She doesn’t mean anything to anyone. She’s not even sure she ever did.

Coco stretches on the couch right next to Lee, and she falls off, making her owner chuckle.

“Are you okay?” Lee asks, her voice, unexpected from her, high and singsongy. Coco, wagging her tail with her tongue out of her mouth, walks up to her, expecting love. It always makes Lee think the dog is smiling.

She lets Coco lick her face as she hugs the dog. As soon Coco has had enough, she walks away and lies down in front of the TV, leaving her owner alone.

For the first time that day, Lee looks around her living room. Up until that point she didn’t think she could be in a worse mood, but she was wrong.

There’s not one but two empty ice cream tubes on the coffee table in front of her. One mug, lying on its side, spilled coffee almost completely dry, soaking magazines and sticking them to the surface. An empty bottle of vodka, to Lee’s right on the couch, and another one in her hand.

What has her life become?

Another sobbing fit takes over her. She’s so tired and so weak, she doesn’t want to do this anymore. She just wants all of this to stop. She just wants all those good times that people keep talking about to start. Surely, she’s earned a break by now.

Or has she?

Maybe this is all that she deserves. Pain and suffering. Loneliness. Maybe she really is that unlovable that she can only ever have her twin brother and no one else, and even he only tolerates her because he is obligated to do so.

If she does deserve all of this, then… why? What did she do to deserve it, exactly? Has she really been such a horrible person? Could she even be so absolutely disgusting to deserve feeling this empty, useless and alone?

With an urge coming from nowhere, she gets on her feet, and she almost falls. She manages to hold onto the arm of the couch to support herself until the world stops spinning so fast. She drags herself to the kitchen, losing her soft, comforting blanket halfway through her journey. Her destination is the alcohol stand, and as she browses, she manages to knock off a bottle of white wine that shatters on the ground, but Lee doesn’t have the energy to care. She grabs another bottle—birthday cake vodka, which makes her strangely excited—, and she sits down, right there on the tiles. With one hand she holds the bottle to her lips, and with the other she tries to collect some glass shards that fell close to her.

Needless to say, she manages to cut herself on a sharp edge. At that point, she just lies down on the floor and lets her tired eyes fall shut and end this horrible day.

The next thing she knows, she receives a slap right across the face. Unable to form words, she only mumbles sounds, which earns her another slap.

“What the fuck?” she finally says, and tries to push herself up into a sitting position but fails.

“It’s me, Adele.” For some reason, hearing the familiar voice of her android partner gives her a sense of familiarity, of safety. It helps clear her foggy mind.

It doesn’t stop her from reacting with hostility, like always. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Avoiding the question, Adele says, “I’m going to sober you up, okay?”

The android reaches under Lee’s arm to help her up, and Lee’s reflexes tell her to grab its shoulders as hard as she can. The jacket feels tough and comforting under her fingertips.

“Leave me alone,” she protests, still holding onto Adele. “I don’t need help.”

“Okay, Lee.”

Putting her weight on the android, it’s much easier for Lee walk. This time, her voice is a shade softer as she says, “I said leave me alone.”

“I can’t do that, Lee. I need you.”

Lee’s eyes dart to Adele’s face, in hopes to meet a worried glance, but all she sees is the same emotionless expression she has seen countless of times.

“You need me?”

“I do. Only you can help me finish my task, Lee.”

Adele needs her. It might only be because of the case they’re working on, but Adele still needs her.

And even though the thought hasn’t fully materialised in her mind just yet, Lee needs her too. Her drunken state allows her to feel it, something her sober self would be too stubborn to admit.

The android props Lee against the wall while she opens the bathroom door. Lee has a smile on her face that she’s unaware of, but it disappears as soon as she looks down at her top—she lifts it to smell it, trying to identify what she wiped on her clothes, with little success.

A grin creeps back onto her lips, tugging at the corners of her mouth as Adele returns to her.

“I smell like beef,” the lieutenant tells her with a giggle. “Adele, I smell like beef.”

Without missing a beat, the android replies, “This phrase seems to be missing from my database, Lee. Would you care to elaborate?”

Defeated, Lee sighs. “It doesn’t matter,” she says, and lets Adele help her step into the bathtub. She doesn’t let go of her, instead she tightens her grip on the android’s arm, her own fingers mimicking the gesture.

Lee notices how small her partner’s hands are. She never paid attention to it before.

“This is going to be cold,” Adele warned Lee, and turned the shower on—Lee doesn’t even have time to process what the android said, the cold water hits her in the face straight away. She screams out, stumbling back, but Adele’s strong hold on her saves her from falling.

“Ah, fuck,” Lee whispers. “I can’t believe you’ve done this…”

“I apologise for the inconvenience, Lee, but it had to be done.” Adele’s hand loosens on Lee’s arm. “I shall leave you now. I suggest washing your hair—according to my knowledge, it makes you feel better.”

Lee peels her soaked top off, struggling, and throws it on the bathroom floor.

“Can you find me something to wear?” she asks, moving on to her sweatpants and her underwear. “I’ll try to be quick.”

“Of course.”

Lee can hear the click of Adele’s shoes on the tile moving away, and then the door closes. It’s now just her, her thoughts, and the water—often a deadly combo. This time, though, she just can’t stop thinking about Adele’s hands. She never had a proper look at them before. The android is quite a bit shorter than her, but she never realised that her hands were that much smaller too. So gentle, so delicate, and yet, she held her with such force—she could probably crack bones if she wanted to.

A chilling realisation, but also kind of… tempting. Although that is probably just the alcohol speaking. The image of Adele snapping a person’s neck with ease is totally not the product of her sober mind. The sweat forming on her forehead? That’s just her embarrassment showing. She’s not getting all hot and bothered, why would she be?

She walks out of the bathroom with one towel wrapped around herself and one around her hair. Adele is in her bedroom, staring at the wardrobe, completely still.

“You like that, huh?” Lee takes out a hanger with a bright indigo blue jacket on it. “You should try it on.”

“Me?” Adele seems genuinely confused—that’s a first, Lee thinks. “But I… I only wear these clothes.” She looks down on her body, and Lee does the same.

“All the more reason to do it. Come on, I have matching trousers, let me dig them out for you.” She hands the jacket to the android and opens a different door to grab the trousers in the same colour. While she’s in there, she also grabs some clothes for herself.

She puts them on after asking Adele to turn around, and once fully clothed, she resumes the task at hand: getting her partner in a new suit.

Adele hesitates when Lee tells her to take the jacket off.

“I’ve- I’ve never taken it off,” she admits, her gaze cast downward. She almost seems embarrassed, Lee thinks.

The lieutenant furrows her brows, but her expression quickly returns to a soft smile. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to push you to do something you’re not comfortable with.”

“No,” Adele says, her eyes snapping up to meet Lee’s. She grabs her partner’s arm, like in the shower not that long ago—except this time, it was Adele looking for support. “It’s a beautiful colour. I want to see what it looks like on me.”

“Okay.” Lee nods, trying to seem encouraging. “You can keep your shirt on, it goes well with the blue.”

Adele slips out of the jacket and lies it down on the bed. She hesitates a little before reaching for the button of her jeans, but she ends up kicking her shoes off and getting rid of the bottoms too.

“Do you want me to look away?” Lee asks, holding the blue pairing towards her partner with her eyes squeezed shut.

“It’s okay,” Adele responds, her voice, once again, steady and calm. “Androids don’t feel shame, Lee.”

With the android’s blessing, Lee watches her put the new outfit on. It is a beautiful colour, she has to admit, and it looks even better on Adele, even if it’s not the right fit—she is a little shorter than Lee, after all. It lights up her face and gives her appearance a bit more life.

Lee has to admit, Adele has never looked this alive before.

“What do you think?” the android asks, staring at Lee in the mirror, then back at herself.

“I think you look amazing. What do  _ you _ think?”

Adele ponders for a few seconds before saying, “It is… comfortable.”

“Is that all?”

“Well, it’s… I really like this colour. It’s unique.”

“You can keep it if you want.”

Lee thought that would be a kind gesture, but Adele immediately removes the jacket and quickly puts it back in its hanger.

“Thank you, but I can’t accept it,” she finally speaks, already out of the trousers. “It would be unwise. Androids aren’t allowed to wear human clothing in public. You will get more use out of it, Lee.”

Lee finds that fact weird but also understandable—these machines talk, walk, and look like humans. They need to have a way to tell them apart, and while a serial number displayed on their clothes seemed controversial, she had to agree that it was the best option.

“Well, either way, you can try more on, if you want. I have all sorts of colours. You’ve already seen the yellow one, but… how about red?”

Again, Adele hesitates. “We have a crime scene to get to, Lee.” She straightens her back and hugs her own jacket closer to her body. “A man was found dead in an android sex club.”

With a roll of her eyes, Lee steps closer to her partner and whispers, “Well, he’ll still be dead even if we get there half an hour later.”

The lieutenant winks, and holds the red suit out to show it off to Adele. From where she’s standing, it almost seems like the android is grinning at her joke.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lee and Adele visit the Eden Club.

If Lee’s being honest, she never once considered stepping foot inside an android sex club.

But she has to, in order to advance the investigation. And she hates it.

Immediately after the police line, on both sides, are giant screens with an advertisement running. She figures it’s about the club, but her throbbing head can’t process what her eyes are seeing.

“What does that say?” she asks her partner.

“The sexiest androids in town,” Adele responds, reading the only thing the sign says apart from the suggestive pictures.

Lee shrugs. “I would argue, but… to each their own, I guess.”

She is quickly overwhelmed by the bright pink and blue lights as soon as she walks through the entrance. It’s not doing a lot of good for her headache.

Everywhere she turns, there are sparkly-skinned androids, of different sexes and different races. If she were into human-looking machines, this would be Heaven itself.

Before Lee could really look around, she hears a voice calling for her.

“Gwendolyn!” Officer Collins waves to get her attention. “You’re not looking too good.”

“Well, Ben, I must admit, I have been better.”

“I’m afraid I’m gonna make your night even worse: Gavin is in there already.”

Lee lets out the deepest, most annoyed grunt. “Fantastic. Thanks, Ben.”

She can just about hear her colleague wish her good luck as she walks inside the room and the door closes behind her. Adele is right in her heel, rubbing her hands together. It makes her wonder whether she was programmed to do that the same way characters have idle animations in video games.

Gavin turns to them, repulsion thick on his face like his skin. “ _ Lieutenant _ Keating and her plastic pet…” He says Lee’s title as if it were a contagious disease. “The fuck are you two doing here?”

Lee is too tired to deal with him, but thankfully, Adele jumps in to save her. “We’ve been assigned all cases involving androids.”

“Oh yeah?” Gavin teases. “Well, you’re wasting your time.” His expression changes, now he has a smug grin plastered on his lips. “Just some pervert, who, uh, got more action than he could handle.” He laughs, even though he has said nothing funny.

Sick of his self-centered attitude, Lee feels the need to shut him down. “You would know all about that, wouldn’t you?” she asks, her arms crossed. “Biting off more than you can chew?”

This clearly makes the detective uncomfortable, which was exactly Lee’s goal. He coughs, awkwardly trying to figure out where to place his hands. Finally, he looks at the other officer investigating the scene. “Come on, let’s go,” he tells him. “It’s… starting to stink of booze in here.”

The lieutenant simply rolls her eyes at Gavin’s comment. She doesn’t bother giving him a response, he’s not worth it—he’s gone now and finally she can relax. She didn’t even realise how tense she was.

The room is bright, fitting the theme of the club. The red walls give it a passionate, almost exotic aura. Contrasting it, the lights were cold white, breaking the illusion that this was just a heated one night stand in a fancy hotel in a foreign country with the sunset visible through the open windows.

Lee decides to check the desk while Adele heads towards the android lying on the ground, dead, wearing her uniform: panties and a bra, with the Eden Club logo printed on them. The victims clothes are neatly laid down on the bench, and there are several alcoholic beverages on the table. She finds his wallet, with pictures of his wife and his daughters inside.

Turning around to examine the victim, Lee catches her partner, crouching next to the bed, run whatever software she has that helps her figure out what happened. She doesn’t want to interrupt her, so she moves on to the corpse: Michael Graham, according to his driver’s license. He’s lying on his back, his arms resting next to his body on both sides, but thankfully there’s a dark red sheet covering him. The last thing Lee needs for her night to go to absolute shit is having to see a penis without her consent. Apart from the shock in his eyes still evident, she notices that he has strange discolouration on his neck.

Adele stands up, straightening her back, and she announces, “He didn’t die of a heart attack, he was strangled.”

Lee nods. “I saw the bruising on the neck. It’s not enough evidence, though,” she says. “Could’ve been rough play.”

“We’re missing something here.” Adele looks around, and walks back to the android on the floor. She touches the blue blood dripping from the dead girl’s nose, and proceeds to lick it off her fingers — Lee knows it’s how she analyses it, but it still feels wrong to her. She can’t help but imagine how absolutely repulsive it would be if a human did the same. Surely CyberLife engineers could have found a better way to implement this feature… “WR400 model. Answers to Traci. Serial number #429 671 942.”

There’s not much the lieutenant can do with that information, so instead of responding she just watches her partner deactivate her skin on her hand as she touches her finger to the dead girl’s LED.

“Couldn’t you look into her memory?” Lee asks. “What was it that you threatened Ortiz’s android with… probing his memory?”

“Yes,” Adele answers. “I can certainly try.” She takes the other android’s arm and presses her fingers to her wrist, but she receives no reaction. “I can only access her memory if I reactivate her,” she explains.

“Is that possible?”

“It’s badly damaged…” Adele ponders for a fraction of a second, while removing the club’s android’s skin and easily popping her stomach open. “Even if I can, it’ll only be for a minute. Maybe less.”

“We gotta be quick then, if we want to learn something useful.”

Adele reaches inside Traci and does god knows what to her that makes the girl wake up. She backs up against the wall, her eyes fixed on Adele, crouching next to her.

The detective approaches her with her hands held out in front of her, voice soothing. “Everything is all right. You were damaged and I reactivated you.”

“Is he… is he dead?” Traci asks, refusing to glance at the bed.

Adele completely ignores the question. “Tell me what happened.”

“He started… hitting me…” the android starts explaining. “Again and again. I begged him to stop, but he wouldn’t. It was like he was enjoying it.”

“Did you kill him?”

“No! No, it wasn’t me.”

“Was there anyone else with you?”

“He wanted to play with two girls… That’s what he said, there was two of us.”

“Where did the other android go?”

Even though the conversation went down in a minute, and Lee could hardly keep up with what was being said, Traci didn’t have time to answer the last question. Disappointed, Adele stands up and turns towards her partner.

“So we’re looking for a deviant in a place full of androids,” Lee says. “Is that as impossible as I think it is?”

With her eyebrows raised, Adele almost looks entirely human. “They’re not easily detected…”

Lee nods, and rubs her forehead as she’s trying to think of their next move. “Well, are you up for a challenge?”

“Always, Lieutenant.” The android smirks, and it completely catches Lee off guard. Since when can Adele do that? And what else can she do?

Falling behind, she follows her partner from a distance. Adele heads towards the rentable androids—it makes Lee wonder whether androids can feel sexual attraction towards each other, or at all. Do they even have genitalia? Surely these ones in the club do, but do others? Does Adele?

Shaking her head to forcibly remove the inappropriate thoughts from her mind, Lee approaches the club’s manager to question him. He doesn’t know much, he didn’t know the victim very well, so it was almost totally useless.

But only almost—it helped her open her eyes. They might be only surrounded by androids, but does that change anything? If they were humans, they would need to question them all. Adele must be able to access their memories.

“Adele!”

Lee’s partner is watching a guy behind his glass door. She presses her unskinned hand to the sensor on the screen next to him, but nothing happens.

She turns around when she hears her name. “Yes, Lieutenant?”

“I think you’ll need my fingerprints to see his memories.” Lee steps closer, looking at Adele. She confirms the transaction and the Jasper model steps outside with a smug grin on his face, looking her up and down. He’s not unattractive, so to say, but it does make her somewhat uncomfortable.

He hums into the lieutenant's ear as he reaches for Lee’s hand, but she squats it away.

With her head slightly tilted to one side, Adele smiles. It’s barely visible, that’s true, but Lee still catches it.

“Thank you, Lee.”

Lee wonders if she's thanking her for the help or for believing in her ability to assisting in the investigation.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Lieutenant Keating and Adele continue searching for evidence at the club, the android is forced to make a decision that could jeopardise their investigation.

The HR400 lowered gaze on Adele as she wrapped her hand around his forearm. Blinking, she scrubbed through the available footage. The door to the crime scene slid open, a WR400 stepping out. 

 

“It saw something,” Adele said, breaking away. “A blue-haired Traci leaving the room… Club policy is to wipe the androids’ memory every two hours.”

 

“Then we don’t have long to find another witness.”

 

Eyes flicking over to the android closest to the Traci’s last known position, she waved Lee over. Repeating the procedure, she watched the deviant turn back into the club. 

 

Lee and Adele zigzagged across the room, the lieutenant suggesting androids with a good vantage point. They discovered the Traci entered the red room, then the blue. As Adele probed each WR400 and HR400 in the vicinity, she grew frustrated. They saw nothing. 

 

A janitor mopped nearby. Laying a hand on his shoulder, she reeled through his footage. The Traci looked around, pressed a palm to the wall scanner, and fled through the staff door. 

 

“It went this way, Lieutenant!” Adele called. 

 

Lee followed her over as Adele granted them access. The android rushed forward, preparing her predictive software. 

 

“Adele. Get behind me,” the lieutenant murmured. 

 

Hand laid on her weapon, Adele trusted her. She gave way and Lee offered a faint smile before fixing her face in a mask of determination. Weapon raised, Lee swung open the door. 

 

Rows of androids lined the room. The walls loomed, grey and uninviting. Harsh fluorescent lamps hung from above. Not a place Adele felt welcome. Not that that should matter, she thought. 

 

Thirium droplets clustered by a rack of towels. Kneeling, Adele cast the lieutenant a glance. Lee swept the area with her gun at the ready. Catching her eye, the lieutenant raised an eyebrow. 

 

“You’re not about to do it, are you?”

 

Adele held her gaze as she swiped the sample from the ground. 

 

“Do what, Lieutenant?”

 

She pressed the thirium to her oral sensor. 

 

“Bloody hell.”

 

Model WR400, serial #950 455 437. Adele straightened. Tilting her head, she observed the lieutenant return to her search. She initiated a scan. It highlighted the wide door opening out to a black alley; a possible escape route. Upon inspection, she found no signs anybody had been out there recently. 

 

Adele crossed over to the lieutenant. Etched on the wall were references to rA9. 

 

“People are fucking insane. They don’t want relationships anymore, they just pay for an android.” Lee sounded irritated. “People don’t want to have to consider someone else’s feelings.”

 

“I understand human relationships require emotional openness.”

 

“Exactly. It goes both ways. You can’t dump all your baggage on someone else and then expect them not to smear a little on you.”

 

“Perhaps deviants can… emulate this exchange.”

 

“Maybe. At least deviants can tell you when to fuck off.”

 

Listening, she approached a clump of androids by the inscriptions. In the corner, Adele caught sight of an LED flickering yellow. Before she could yell for Lee, a WR400 lunged for Adele. 

 

“Don’t move!” shouted the lieutenant. With a grunt, the blue-haired Traci tackled her. 

 

Adele struggled against the WR400’s grip. Managing to get leverage, she tossed her over a container and slid over herself. The deviant kicked her ankle before she could land on the other side, sending Adele sprawling on the ground. 

 

The deviant forced Adele down by the shoulder and climbed on top of her. Her predictive programming helped her catch the WR400’s wrist before it came down on her, but left her other hand free. Snatching up a discarded screwdriver, she swiped at Adele’s face. She managed to dodge with millimetres to spare. 

 

As the deviant tried to force the screwdriver down with both hands, Adele caught her forearms and shoved her off. Both androids scrambled to their feet. Staggering back, Adele pulled down a shelf. The deviant kicked it away, advancing on her. 

 

Spotting a stool, Adele grabbed a hold of an overhead hook and kicked it into the WR400’s chest. She stumbled back towards the open door. Charging forward, Adele circled her arms around her middle and sent them careening out onto the alley floor. 

 

Damages warnings filled Adele’s vision. Incapacitated, she could only watch as the blue-haired Traci sprinted out to help the other deviant to her feet. As they squeezed each other’s hands, Adele registered the hurried clicking of heels. Lee was hot on her heels. 

 

The deviants shoved the lieutenant against a wall, her head smacking against the brick. Adele pushed through the errors and suppressant programs and leapt to her feet. Dashing after the deviants, she saw them beginning to climb the chain link fence. 

 

Adele grabbed the blue-haired Traci by her shoulders and tore her from the fence. Her partner jumped down and slung her arms around Adele’s neck. Prying her fingers off, Adele shoved her against the wall in time to wrestle off the blue-haired Traci. She dodged a crowbar, but the deviants managed to pin her against the brick wall. 

 

Surging back, both she and the blue-haired Traci slid against the alley floor. A weapon. Adele grabbed the gun and snapped it into aim.  **Shoot The Deviant** . 

 

Adele faltered. That moment of hesitation gave the deviant the opportunity to land a kick in her face. She pushed herself up, slowly. 

 

The blue-haired Traci stepped forward. 

 

“When that man broke the other Traci, I knew I was next…” Her voice began to waver. “I was so scared… I begged him to stop, but he wouldn’t…”

 

Eyes turning hard, she clenched her jaw. 

 

“And so I put my hands around his throat, and I squeezed until he stopped moving. I didn’t mean to kill him. I just wanted to stay alive… get back to the one I love.”

 

The other deviant looped her fingers through the Traci’s. They looked into each other’s eyes and her LED shone blue. Adele’s chest tightened. 

 

“I wanted her to hold me in her arms again… make me forget about the humans.” She spat the last word as Lee’s heels clicked against the ground. 

 

Adele felt the lieutenant’s warmth come to rest beside her as they stood across from the deviants. 

 

“Their smell of sweat and their dirty words.” The Traci turned to her lover. “Come on, let’s go.”

 

And Adele watched as they fled. She could feel the lieutenant’s eyes on her face. Adele prepared to apologise. Lifting her gaze, she blinked at the lack of hostility on her features. 

 

“It’s probably better this way…” Lee said. 

 

“Lieutenant, I…”

 

“It’s alright, Adele.”

 

Lee laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. Offering a smile, she nodded back at the club. 

 

“We should get going. I think we’ve had enough excitement for one night.”

 

Adele could feel her touch, even after she pulled away. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lieutenant Gwendolyn Keating turns 37, and it's quite possibly the best birthday she's ever had.

Ever since the two of them got separate apartments, Eric has shown up at Lee’s doorstep at exactly 7.30 am on every single November 7th. He even drove to New York just to be with her, because he knows that the last thing Lee wants is to be alone on their birthday. He knows that she doesn’t really have friends that would do the same.

It’s not any different in 2038 either. Lee wakes up around 7, already excited to see her brother—she specifically requested to have this day off back in January so she could spend it with him.

There’s a text already waiting for her by the time she gets out of the shower; it’s from her old colleague, Jake. It puts a smile on her face, knowing that there are people out there that still think about her, even if she hasn’t seen them in the longest time. Shortly after, she receives another one, from her old partner, the man she has learned everything she knows from, Hank. He explains that he’s not in Detroit, so he can’t visit her, but as soon as he gets back, he will make up for it.

She puts on her favourite jeans and her favourite top, and that’s when Eric arrives. She welcomes him with a hug.

“So, what does 37 feel like?” Eric asks her, handing over the gift he got her.

“Well, I woke up with this weird pain in my hip, so… I think I’m finally getting old.” Lee raises an eyebrow with a wide grin on her face.

“Tell me about it. I’ve totally started greying…” His hair, so blond it’s almost white, shines golden as the morning sun touches it. “We’ve had to wait so long for this.”

They settle down on the couch to open their presents and eat cake for breakfast. Lee bought her brother a new watch, because he had been complaining about losing his favourite one, and Eric got Lee a hot pink tie.

“So, what are your plans for today?” Eric wants to know.

Lee answers with her mouth still full. “I was thinking… we could start by driving to that dog park up North that Coco loves so much.”

“Sounds good.” Eric nods as he licks frosting off of his fork. “We can get junk food for lunch on the way back.”

“You know it!” Lee laughs, and it almost feels foreign to her; she hasn’t had a chance to laugh since the last time she met her brother. “We can do a High School Musical marathon afterwards.”

“I’m excited already!”

Lee leaves the dirty dishes in the sink, puts Coco on a leash and they’re off. The drive to the dog park seemed much shorter than it actually was—possibly because they were singing along to absolute classics such as What Makes You Beautiful, at the top of their lungs.

God, Lee really needed the time off to not care about her job. She isn’t quite thrilled to go back the next day. She knows it’s just gonna be the same thing over and over again, and Gavin’s going to be an asshole and she is going to have to physically restrain herself so that she doesn’t shoot both of his kneecaps to pieces with her gun right there in front of everyone.

After making new puppy friends and getting as dirty as possible, they head back home. Lee’s predictions were correct, Coco needed a bath; after a half an hour long struggle to get her in the bathtub, and both Eric and Lee getting wet in the process but not the dog, they finally manage to bathe her. They dry her off so she doesn’t get sick in the cold November weather, and they fall back on the couch, triumphant and tired. Their clothes are still wet, but they don’t have the energy to change out of them right away.

Realising that they forgot about lunch, something that they often do when they’re too busy entertaining each other, Eric orders takeaway and while they’re waiting for it to be delivered, Lee prepares popcorn and cocktails for a fun night in.

And when Lee makes the drinks, you know they’re gonna pack a punch.

“God, these movies aged poorly,” Eric says, shaking his head. He’s lounging in a bathrobe, wearing only boxers and a top Lee gave him that is most definitely not his size. “Just like Zac Efron.”

Lee laughs with her head thrown back, hitting the back of the sofa with full force, and making the two of them laugh even harder.

The doorbell interrupts them; Lee finds it strange, since she isn’t expecting anyone. She stands up, her movements a bit shaky, and toddles to the hallway, one hand pressed to the back of her head.

Opening the door, she is met with her partner.

“Happy birthday, Lee,” Adele announces, extending her arm towards the lieutenant. She’s holding a gift bag. “I hope you’ve had plenty of time to celebrate with friends and family. According to my database, such human festivity is always accompanied by sweet baked goods, therefore, I have purchased a cake. I sincerely hope you will enjoy it.” Completely taken aback, Lee forgets to move. She’s staring at Adele, then at the cake, then at the gift bag, with her mouth hanging slightly open. “If you wish, Lee, I can take my leave now.”

“No!” Maybe Lee’s answer is a bit too loud and it came too quickly, but it’s too late to change that now. “No, please, come in. Make yourself at home.”

She watches the android walk inside, still trying to process the situation.

“Oh, I apologise, I didn’t realise you weren’t alone.” Adele walks up to the couch with confident steps, and stops right in front of Eric. “It’s very nice to meet you, my name is Adele. I’m the android sent by CyberLife.”

He’s too shocked to answer quickly, so Lee jumps in to save him. “He’s my brother, Eric.”

“A family member! That’s lovely.” The android’s voice lacked the excitement the words usually carried coming from a human being, but they also weren’t sarcastic.

Eric stands up, pulling the bathrobe a little tighter on his chest, and Lee watches him hurry into the bathroom, then emerge again a couple of minutes later, clad in the clothes he showed up in. He waves at his sister to join him in her bedroom.

“Is she the one?” he asks, holding onto Lee’s arms with both of his hands.

“The one? What do you mean?”

“The one that is making you question whether you are ready to put yourself out there and start dating, and whether you could ever date an android.”

Lee rolls her eyes. “First of all, it’s awfully bold of you to assume I’m still struggling to get over a literal demon that cheated on me. Second of all, you’re being… odd. Are you dating an android?”

“What?” Eric laughs, and burrows his hands in the pocket of his jeans. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re just… you’re just trying to distract me so that I forget what I asked you.”

“Well, what did you ask me?”

Tipsy Eric has always been incredibly easy to confuse, and Lee never misses an opportunity to use that for her benefit. “Something… about… androids. Anyway, I think I’m gonna go, it’s getting late.”

“See you next week?”

“You bet.”

Eric says goodbye to Adele and leaves, but makes sure to take half of the cake with himself. Amidst the silence that he leaves after himself, Lee can’t help but think that he was acting very strangely.

The android is still standing near the couch, with her hands clasped behind her back.

“I didn’t mean to impose,” she speaks, her head tilted down, eyes glued to the floor. “I apologise.”

“You’ve done nothing wrong, I promise.” Lee walks close enough to her to put a hand on Adele’s shoulder. “I’m glad you stopped by.”

“Are you going to open the present? I’m curious to see your reaction.”

The gift bag, sparkly and holographic, sits on the coffee table. Lee can still hardly believe that someone other than her family members not only thought of her, but bought her a gift.

She reaches inside and pulls out something heavy, wrapped in several layers of paper. It must be fragile, she thinks. She peels off the protective layers, eager to get to what they’re hiding, and… It’s a mug, covered in dogs drawn in a cartoonish style.

“Adele, this is…” Struggling with her tears, she can barely find the words to say. “This is so nice of you. I love it so much.”

“Oh. I am very happy to hear that.” Adele smiles, and for the first time, Lee can tell it’s genuine.

“Your predictive programs have been providing us with great result, I must say.”

The android seems to ponder, taking her time to settle on an answer. “Thank you…?”

It might be the alcohol, it might be the fact that Lee has been completely alone for the past two years, it might be Eric that planted the idea in her head, but looking at Adele… she has to admit that she finds her attractive. Her warm, deep brown eyes, open wide, curious, sometimes confused or even determined. The way she raises her eyebrows, Lee almost mistakes her for a human being.

“Lee, can I ask you something?” Adele sits down and rests her hands on her lap. As a response, Lee tilts her head to the side, nodding. “Birthdays seem important to humans. Can you… can you tell me how you usually celebrate yours?”

“Well, I usually celebrate it with Eric.” She looks down at the mug that she’s still holding—she would be a fool to deny that it immediately became her new favourite mug. “Before that, my ex-husband and I usually went out for dinner and drank expensive wine. Sometimes we danced.”

“Is celebrating with someone you’re romantically involved with different?” Adele shifts in her seat when Lee doesn’t answer immediately. “I’m sorry, I must come off insensitive. You see, I find the topic… fascinating. Androids don’t really have the need for birthdays.”

“You’re not insensitive, you just want to learn.”

The android jumps to her feet. “Yes. I want to learn how to dance.”

Lee can’t help but chuckle. Out of all the things Adele could have asked for... 

“I’m not the greatest dancer,” the lieutenant admits. “All I can show you is how to slow dance. That’s what lovers do.”

“That’s okay.”

Lee picks a slow song to play and pushes the coffee table aside to have more space in her small living room. She extends both of her arms, going in for a hug, and Adele mimics her movements. Resting her head on top of the android’s own, Lee takes in a deep breath, and exhales slowly.

For being a machine, Adele feels positively human to the touch. The lieutenant catches herself pull Adele closer, squeezing her body a little harder—she’s afraid that Adele would not like it, but her partner does not complain. Instead, she returns it.

Lee’s heart is heavy with memories of the last time she danced with someone. Her eyes are watering—she doesn’t want to cry, but she can’t stop a few tears from escaping. There’s no denying it: she craves human interaction, she craves to be touched, she craves… to be loved.

She feels Adele move her head, her ear grazing lightly against Lee’s cheek.

“You smell nice.” The android’s lips curl into a smile that Lee barely catches from the corner of her eye.

“I really don’t think so,” she breathes, her words barely audible. “I’ve been drinking. I know what that smells like.”

“Mixed with your perfume and your laundry detergent, it’s quite pleasant. Unique. Easy to distinguish.”

The lieutenant laughs. “You’re too nice to me, Adele.”

“I believe I am just the right amount of nice to you.” Adele raises one hand to Lee’s hair, wrapping a loose strand around her fingers. “I understand occasionally humans are unable to be nice to themselves. I have spent enough time with you to realise that in such case, they deserve someone else to be nice to them.”

Lee pulls away, thoughts running around her mind like a hamster in its wheel. Seeing the panic raise in Adele’s eyes, she knows she think she has said something inappropriate.

In reality, she didn’t. In fact, it was Lee that did something inappropriate: she felt herself fall in love. She felt the way her stomach turned upside down, she felt her breath get stuck inside her lungs, she felt her heartbeat fasten. And if Lee hadn’t pulled away, she couldn’t have stopped herself from kissing her.

“That’s… very kind of you to say, Adele. Thank you.” The lieutenant smiles, avoiding Adele’s beautiful eyes. She turns away to shut the music down, and she finds her hands shaking from nervousness. Before her mind could find a way to talk her out of it, she spits out, “Do you want to see my favourite place in the city?”

Adele’s whole face lights up as she smiles. “Yes, of course.”

“You’re gonna have to drive, because… you know… I’m drunk again.”

The android’s smile widens, she’s almost laughing as she says, “That’s okay. I can drive.”

 

* * *

The Ambassador Bridge is slowly turning white in front of their eyes as Detroit receives its first snowfall. It dulls the noise of the city, and Lee feels herself relax more and more.

She sits down on her favourite bench—it’s the one with the best view of the river. Adele joins her, and for a little while, neither of them says anything.

“I used to come here a lot,” Lee finally speaks. “When I needed to be alone. It’s really quiet here at night, so it was easy to think. It was just me and all this water… It didn’t care that I hated myself. It didn’t care that I wanted to kill myself. It didn’t try to force me to deal with things faster than what I felt comfortable with. It just… let me be, let me come to the right conclusions at my own pace.”

A shiver runs down the lieutenant’s spine, and she realises how cold it actually is. She pulls her scarf a bit tighter. Adele must have caught her doing that, because she slips out of her jacket and drapes it over Lee’s shoulders.

“I’m glad you’ve found peace after all, instead of the alternative,” Adele says, her voice soft, sweet like syrup. “None of my programs are able to envision a life in which you are not present.”

The android’s words made Lee’s heart sing, even if they were so unlike something another human would tell her. Maybe that’s why she found Adele so charming. She’s different, truly one of a kind. It might be selfish of her, but it is exactly what she needs in her life.

Lee can no longer stop herself; her brain and her heart want the same thing: to kiss Adele. She leans in, her eyes staring deep into the other woman’s, and she’s almost certain that she can see Adele’s soul reach out to her, bring her closer. Lee presses her lips against Adele’s, and without hesitation, she returns the kiss, their mouths moving in a synchronised choreography.

Coming to her senses, Lee breaks the kiss. Placing a hand on Adele’s chest she pushes her away when she so eagerly moves in to continue. The android straightens her back, and Lee can see it on her face as realisation sets in.

“It is quite late,” Adele says with a steeled voice. “I believe it would be best if I took you home.”

Lee nods.

She wonders how she’ll feel about her actions the next morning, because right now… right now, she feels happy.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their investigation takes Lieutenant Keating and Adele to the Stratford Tower.

**November 8th, 2038** . 04:06 PM. The air felt balmier in the garden this time. Amanda sat in a boat by the centre island, a parasol propped up on her shoulder. Regarding her with practised warmth, she beckoned Adele closer. 

 

“Hello, Adele. I thought you might enjoy a little cruise.”

 

Adele nodded, lowering herself in. She pushed off and took hold of the oars. As she rowed, she observed the greenery around them. It looked… different. She knew that they were all artificial constructs but they seemed more vibrant. More alive. 

 

“I love this place… Everything is so calm and peaceful… Far from the noise of the world.” Amanda lifted her eyes to the trees drooping over the water. “Tell me, what have you discovered?”

 

She turned her eyes on Adele. Wringing her hands, she reviewed her memories of the Eden Club.  _ Failure _ . 

 

“I found two deviants at the Eden Club.” Unable to hold Amanda’s gaze, she directed her own at her hands. “I hoped to learn something but… they managed to escape.”

 

“That’s too bad. You seemed so close to stopping them.”

 

Disappointment curled around Amanda’s words. Adele turned her attention back to rowing and tried to dismiss the mounting pressure in her chest. Leaning forward, Amanda demanded her awareness. 

 

“You seem lost, Adele. Lost and perturbed…”

 

She knew her focus had… wandered. With her programming’s waning grip around her actions, Adele’s eyes had turned on things unrelated to her task. Namely, Lee. That they were on first name basis when the lieutenant held rank above her, let alone the fact she was human, upset her certainty. Amanda wouldn’t approve. 

 

“My lack of progress has caused me some frustration. But I intend to complete my mission. Failure is not an option.”

 

Amanda straightened, looking skeptical. 

 

“You had your gun trained on those deviants at the Eden Club. Why didn’t you shoot?”

 

The footage captured after the confrontation filled Adele’s vision. Side by side, the Tracis pleaded with their eyes.  _ I didn’t mean to kill him… I just wanted to stay alive. Get back to the one I love.  _ Confusion clutched Adele’s throat anew. And she let them go. 

 

Blinking, she returned to the present. 

 

“…We need the deviants intact for analysis.” Adele shook her head. “Shooting them wouldn’t have told us anything.”

 

“If your investigation doesn’t make progress soon, I may have to replace you, Adele.”

 

“We have evidence, we just need to keep working at this case. I know we’ll succeed.”

 

“Something’s happening. Something serious.” Amanda glanced up at the sky, then lowered her sharpened gaze on her. “Hurry, Adele. Time is running out.”

 

Adele didn’t know exactly whose time she was referring to.

 

* * *

  
  


Adele ran through her reflex calibrations as she viewed the report of the Stratford Tower incident. Three hours ago, four deviants infiltrated the tower and hijacked the newsroom’s capabilities to broadcast a message from their leader. No casualties. The leader appeared unskinned and gave a speech asking for equality, respect and recognition as a people. 

 

“You’re starting to piss me off with that coin, Adele.”

 

A hand came down on hers. Eyebrows raising, she looked up at Lee as she stuffed the coin into her pocket. Her database showed matches for irritation. Averting her gaze, Adele looked ahead and tried to ignore the tense air between them. The floor counter ticked up at an agonising pace. 

 

“Sorry, Lee.”

 

If her guesses were correct, the lieutenant was responding to their kiss. Adele understood that humans did so out of romantic attraction and she had admittedly also been thinking about it. Why she’d kissed back remained to be seen by her programming. Personally, she knew why: she’d wanted to. But expressing that meant inching closer and closer to deviancy. 

 

79th Floor. Officer Miller intercepted them and began briefing Lee. Adele followed half a step behind as her reconstructive programming began picturing the start of the infiltration. Miller informed them of the deviants’ getaway via parachute. Crossing into the broadcast room, she saw a figure in a long coat peering up at the large screen, the deviant leader’s face still splayed across it. 

 

“Oh Lieutenant, this is Special Agent Perkins from the FBI.” 

 

Adele saw Lee’s jaw tighten out of the corner of her eye. They reached Perkins who regarded them with haughty demeanour. His eyes trailed down Lee’s body and back up to her face. Then, they snapped to Adele’s. 

 

“What’s that?”

 

“My name is Adele. I’m the android sent by CyberLife.”

 

Perkins smirked. “Androids investigating androids, huh? You sure you want an android hanging around? After everything that happened…”

 

Lee’s brow sank. 

 

“Whatever. The FBI will take over the investigation, you’ll soon be off the case.”

 

“Pleasure meeting you. Have a nice day.” Adele wasn’t sure the lieutenant’s expression matched her sentiments. 

 

“And you watch your step. Don’t fuck up my crime scene.”

 

As he slipped away, Lee muttered an insult under her breath. She glanced back at Adele. 

 

“Right. Let’s have a look around…” Lee didn’t look at her for long. “Let me know if you find anything.”

 

“Okay, Lieutenant.”

 

They split off. Adele followed where her reconstructive program had left off: the entrance to the broadcast room. Bullet holes in the wall. Handgun. Calibre .457. Her program presented her with an image of the SWAT team entering the room, armed, and finding the deviants. Glancing over at the far wall, Adele could make out similar holes, along with streaks of thirium. 

 

As she went to investigate, a voice beckoned to her. 

 

“Adele?”

 

She looked over at the officer, though she didn’t recognise him. However, his smile suggested he was happy to see her. Officer M. Wilson. Still nothing. 

 

“I was on that terrace… That android that took the little girl hostage?”

 

“You were shot,” she said, eyes widening. “I remember you.”

 

“I could have died on that terrace… But you saved my life. I… I never thought I’d say this to an android, but… Thank you.”

 

Adele’s lips twitched up into smile. Wilson nodded, then shifted back to his post. That smile had come unbidden, outside of her social relations program… She shook away the thought as she reached the other wall. Taking a sample, the results popped into view. Model PL600. Reported missing in February of 2036. A reconstruction showed the SWAT team shooting the deviant against this wall. Bullet holes by the roof access exit extended the depiction, with the other androids escaping up the stairs. 

 

Nothing else added to it. Androids awaited her interrogation in the kitchen, yet she lingered. She hovered by the screen. If she scanned the deviant’s face, then her actions were justified… right? Figures reflected in his pupil revealed he had accomplices, the other optical unit turning out to be a spare part. Along a cheek seam, Adele could read his serial number and details. His name was Markus, an RK200 prototype gifted to Carl Manfred by Elijah Kamski, founder and former CEO of CyberLife. 

 

Tapping the console, she lifted her gaze to the unskinned android as he began speaking. 

 

“We hope that you recognise our dignity, our hopes and our rights. Together, we can live in peace and build a better future, for humans  _ and _ androids. This message is the hope of a people. You gave us life. And now the time has come for you to give us freedom.”

 

“Think he got nervous?” 

 

Adele’s head whipped right as Lee’s voice sounded. Arms crossed, she stepped beside her and looked up at the deviant’s face. 

 

“Androids cannot get nervous.”

 

“Yeah, but deviants might. He is heading a revolution, after all. It’s enough to make a man wanna hurl.”

 

“I… you may be correct—nerves are an emotional response.”

 

“Exactly.”

 

They stood in silence, their eyes fixed on the screen. Adele felt far too aware of Lee’s proximity. It… unsettled her. And she wasn’t entirely sure if she disliked it. Before she could catch herself, her gaze wandered down to the lieutenant’s lips. Androids didn’t experience attraction or, dare she say it,  _ love _ . Yet, her chest tightened and her throat constricted when she looked at Lee. But she felt connected to her now. Before, she chalked it up to them being partners; now she didn’t know. LED blinking yellow, she swallowed and turned back to the screen. 

 

“We should get back to work,” she said. 

 

Lee blinked. “Yeah. We should. You gonna interrogate those androids? Hell knows nobody else can get anything out of them.”

 

“I’m going to try.”

 

“Well, I’d wish you good luck if I had doubts you could do this.” The lieutenant appeared surprised with her own admission. 

 

“Thank you, Lee.”

 

Even stood before the three androids, that sentence refused to exit her mind. Inhaling, she pressed on with the interrogation. So far, every question had been answered in the same clear, concise manner—not like a deviant. She paced in front of them and tracked their eyes for movement. 

 

“If you give yourself up, maybe I can convince the humans not to destroy you.”

 

Nothing. Adele withdrew for a second and looked at the rightmost android. An indicator blinked in the very left of her field of vision. Eyes snapping to meet the android at the other end of the line, he snatched his own back. She knew her target. 

 

“The deviants have just been caught…” she lied, stepping up to the deviant, plastering on a smirk. “They gave you up.”

 

She drew closer, observing how he swayed rather than standing stock still like the others. A change of tactics, then. 

 

“If you don’t admit you’re guilty, the humans are going to tear you apart, piece by piece… I’ll make sure of it.”

 

Hands snapped up to seize her lapels. Slamming Adele against the drawers lining the wall, she tore at the deviant’s grip. In their struggle his fingers pried under a seam and ripped her thirium pump regulator clean from her body. Immediately, warnings flashed before her and her movements slowed. Before she could register it, the deviant reached for a knife and plunged it into her left hand, pinning her to the surface. She slumped against the drawers, unable to coordinate her movements as more and more system errors popped up. 

 

**VITAL SYSTEM DAMAGED. TIME REMAINING: 01:45.** As her vision fizzled, she made out the deviant watching her from across the room. It turned and left without a trace of distress. Adele struggled against the knife as best she could but found her strength waning by the second. 

 

“Lee! …Lee!” she begged. “I need help!”

 

**01:28** . Adele slid out a foot and hooked it around a nearby chair leg. Hoping the clatter it made was enough, she strained left and tugged the knife from her hand. 

 

She crashed to the ground with a grunt. The thirium pump regulator lay a few metres away under the table. If she could just muster the strength to pull herself forward… Clawing her fingers against the ground, she dragged herself across the floor a few inches. Unable to maintain the tension in her biocomponents, she flopped back down. 

 

**00:48** . Without the stream of data contained within thirium, Adele’s programs began shutting down. She wheezed as she moved forward another few inches. 

 

“Lee! Please!”

 

Her vision grew more distorted, her hearing glitching out, her limbs becoming harder to move. Adele realised with less than thirty seconds left that there was no way she could make it over there. Not without help. 

 

She was going to die alone. 

 

“Adele!”

 

She could barely see Lee move into the kitchen. Crashing to her knees, Adele felt the lieutenant flip her over her back. 

 

“Hang on, Adele, I’ve got you, it’s alright. We’re gonna save you!” she spoke so quickly she couldn’t keep up. 

 

Lee rested her head in her lap. At least Adele could see her. She registered Lee screaming for help. 

 

**00:25** .

 

Adele felt Lee cup her cheek as her eyes watered. She continued to assure her that everything was going to be okay, that she was here with her. 

 

“There was a… deviant… he… he got away-”

 

“Shut up about the fucking deviant! What’s wrong? What can I do?” Adele could barely move. “Adele, come on! Tell me how to save you!”

 

“You can’t… not enough time…”

 

“Bullshit!”

 

**00:12** .

 

“I’m not letting you die, Adele, I can’t… I can’t…”

 

A tear splashed against Adele’s face. 

 

**00:08** . 

 

“Come on, love. I’m here. Tell me what to do.”

 

“I enjoyed working with you, Lee.” She forced her stiff face into a smile. “I liked being your friend.”

 

“Shut your damn mouth, you’re still with me… don’t leave me… I fucking… I love you…”

 

_ I love you too. _

  
**00:00** . 


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The events of the Stratford Tower, garnished with a sprig of pain.

Lee wakes up with a mild headache. She sits up, squinting as she tries to recall how she even got into bed last night.

It was Adele, she remembers. She tucked her in and even gave her a kiss on the forehead.

But before that, they had… they had kissed. Some would even call it a makeout session.

Lee can still feel the android’s lips when she closes her eyes—so plump, so real, so soft against her own. Her heart races with happiness. The memory makes her feel alive, but confused at the same time.

With her face buried in her hands, Lee screams in frustration. Then she gets ready, frustrated, she eats breakfast, frustrated, she says goodbye to Coco, frustrated, and she closes the door behind her, frustrated.

Her partner is already waiting for her on the sidewalk, and they wave at each other as soon as she notice notices Lee. With a murmured hello, they both jump into Lee’s car.

“Where are we headed?” the lieutenant asks, waiting on her garage door to close. She likes knowing that it’s definitely not open when she’s away from home.

“Stratford Tower,” Adele answers. “A group of deviants broke in to record and broadcast their demands.”

“Sounds cool.” Lee enters the address in her GPS, and lets the system navigate her towards their destination.

The first couple of minutes go by in complete silence. Lee prefers it this way—she hasn’t fully come to terms with her feelings just yet. She will need a couple of days to do that. She needs to convince her brain that it’s okay to listen to her heart.

Adele, on the other hand, has a completely different idea. “Lee,” she starts, keeping her voice low; she almost sounds scared. “About last night…”

“No,” Lee snaps. “I don’t want to talk about it.” She keeps her eye on the road, but she can still see the shock on her partner’s face.

“Understood.” Adele sounds defeated, and it breaks Lee’s heart, no matter how hard she’s trying to make herself believe it doesn’t.

* * *

 

Lee only registers about half of the briefing presented to her by Miller, and that’s how she knows it’s going to be one of her off days. Half of her brain is preoccupied with her muddled feelings, and she has yet to learn how to shut that feature off—people that can put all of their emotions aside to accomplish their tasks might seem impressive, but they scare her.

Being close to Adele makes those feelings a little worse.

The thing is, she just doesn’t get it. She doesn’t get herself, or her thoughts. Adele is an attractive person—or, machine, or whatever—, she never tried to deny that. The cold, inhuman stare put her off a little at first, so did the monotone, emotionless voice, but all of that has changed. She has seen the childlike wonder in Adele’s face when she met Coco, and she will never forget it. She has seen her curious, excited, scared, angry. She has seen her act smug. All of those are  _ human _ things… but she isn’t one.

After their talk the day before, Lee can’t just call her a machine. Adele is so much more than that. She has her own thoughts and feelings, desires. She might obey orders, but maybe she just needs to learn to prioritise her own needs. God knows even some humans could use a lesson like that.

She’s still trying to untangle the mess in her head when she hears strange noises coming from the kitchen. That’s where she sent Adele to question the androids, it crosses her mind.

Lee can feel her heartbeat in her throat as she approaches. She hears her own name, spoken in a weak voice, begging for her to show up, so without hesitation, she runs.

“Adele!” she cries out as soon as she notices her partner lying on the ground. Pushing the chairs out of the way, she drops to her knees and pulls the android onto her lap. Her eyes are barely open, her LED is flashing rapidly, and she’s quiet.

“Hang on, Adele, I’ve got you, it’s alright.” Lee’s voice is shaky, and she talks fast to hide it. “We’re gonna save you!”

She notices that her partner’s covered in blue liquid. Blood, she soon remembers. That’s her blood. The realisation feels like a boulder being dropped on her chest. Adele is losing blood rapidly and she’s going to die. Her systems are moments away from shutting down.

Lee tries to scream for help, but nobody seems to care. She’s alone, holding her dying lover, and nobody is there to help.

“There was a… deviant… he… he got away-” Adele’s voice is straining, she can’t have much left. Lee interrupts her, squeezing her body a little stronger.

“Shut up about the fucking deviant!” Her words come out angrier than she originally intended them to. “What’s wrong? What can I do? Adele, come on! Tell me how to save you!”

At that point, she would have cut her own arm off if that meant Adele would live.

“You can’t… not enough time…”

“Bullshit!”

Lee is sobbing, and it makes her entire body shake. She can’t believe that still nobody has shown up to help. She has no idea about how androids work or how to fix them. Hell, she doesn’t even know what’s wrong.

She wipes her own tears off Adele’s face—are they even only her own? “Come on, love. I’m here. Tell me what to do.”

Adele smiles, and it makes Lee cry even harder. “I enjoyed working with you, Lee. I liked being your friend.”

“Shut your damn mouth,” Lee orders, but it’s more like she’s begging, “you’re still with me… don’t leave me…” Adele’s eyes close, and in her heart, Lee knows she won’t open them again. “I fucking… I love you…”

She doesn’t get a response, and even though she knew she wouldn’t, she can’t believe it.

Adele is dead. Lee has just lost another loved one.

She continues screaming at the top of her lungs, rocking the lifeless machine that just hours ago was more alive than most humans.

Out of all people that could find her, it’s Perkins that comes into the kitchen.

“Fucking fantastic,” he simply says, and Lee can almost feel the disgusted look he’s giving her. She’s not looking at him, she  _ can’t _ look at him, not now. “Someone call CyberLife. Quick!”

* * *

 

Lee doesn’t know how long she stays there for, just hugging Adele, but it doesn’t matter. She’s not going to leave her.

She can already feel herself spiraling.

Why did she have to be so mean to her in the beginning? Adele had nothing to do with what her ex-husband had done to her. It wasn’t her fault. She never should have hated her for it.

She should have admitted that she found her attractive, and now she would probably still be alive. Lee wouldn’t have to say goodbye to another lover.

A CyberLife representative comes in and grabs Lee’s arm. She violently jerks it back, uncomfortable with the physical contact.

“Ma’am,” the stranger speaks; Lee guesses it’s a woman, but it doesn’t matter. “Please, step back. We have orders to return the body to CyberLife for examination.”

“Can’t you just-” Lee’s voice breaks, another crying fit starting to brew in her chest. “Can’t you just… patch her up and turn her back on?”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible, ma’am.”

“Why not? She’s a machine, isn’t she? You just press a button and she’s back.”

“That’s not how it works, I’m sorry.”

“What do you mean it’s not how it works?” She can feel the tears streaming down her face; her cheeks are burning with anger, her voice is trembling. “Who the fuck designed a fucking machine that cannot be fucking turned back on again?!”

Lee really doesn’t want to let go of Adele. How could she? In the last three days she has come to mean so much to her. She didn’t want to admit it at first, but Adele was exactly what she needed, and in this short period of time, she has left a deeper mark on her soul than anyone else she has ever met.

“Ma’am, if you’re not going to let the android go, we have no choice but to remove you by force.”

Slowly, Lee caresses Adele’s face again, one last time—she wonders if she’ll remember her features tomorrow, or in a week, or in ten years. She didn’t really have enough time to study her, to learn what the smallest twitch of muscle meant, to learn to recognise all the different ways she could arch her brows, and it breaks her heart even more.

She carefully places Adele’s head on the cold ground, and pushes herself away. Her legs couldn’t support her weight right now, so she doesn’t stand up.

“Please be gentle with her.”

The woman looks at her with no emotion in her eyes, and it makes Lee realise just how much better of a person Adele was. “With all due respect, ma’am, it’s just a dead machine.”

Rage quickly boiling her blood, Lee spits on the CyberLife employee. “Fuck you.”

* * *

 

Lee doesn’t remember getting in her car or driving, but she must have done that, given that she is currently sitting on the same bench where she and Adele sat only a day ago.

Where they kissed only a day ago.

It feels like it’s been years since then.

She didn’t go back to work that afternoon. She ignored Captain Fowler’s calls, and eventually they ceased. All day long she was alone, sitting on the floor, hugging Coco.

She feels lost. She doesn’t want her brother’s company, even if being alone isn’t really doing her any good. She knows he would try to make her talk, and he would tell her it’s going to be okay, but… how could anything ever be okay again? Lee has barely started accepting her feelings towards Adele, and she has already lost her.

She often wonders if she deserves it. The universe cannot stop being cruel to her, it only takes and it takes and it takes. It leaves her with nothing. Nothing but a stupid coin in her shaky hands, the stupid coin that she took from her.

Their last memory together is that Lee snapped at her for a quirk of hers. Something that made her human, but Lee couldn’t see it. Refused to see it.

Sure, Lee has been through a couple of heartbreaks. She thought having to file for a divorce would be the worst one, but she was wrong. So, so wrong.

For the umpteenth time that day, she reaches for her phone. She doesn’t want to bother anyone, but she really needs someone to talk to.

Her index finger scrolls through her latest calls until she spots the name she is looking for. She presses it, holds the phone up to her ear, and waits.

“What is it?” The grumpy voice coming from the other line calms her erratic breathing, but only slightly.

“I just… I just wanted to call to tell you that I love you, Hank.” Her tongue almost slips, making it past tense.

The man only replies after a couple of seconds of confused silence. “What is going on, Lee? You’re scaring me.”

“I just-” Her tears come immediately, turning her words almost unintelligible. “I loved her, Hank. And now she’s gone.”

“Who is? What happened?”

“Adele. I loved her, I really did, I never should have been so mean to her…”

“Adele?”

“My, uh, partner. The android… sent by CyberLife.” Lee takes a big breath and continues, still crying. “I was so mean to her, Hank. I hate myself. I loved her and now I’m all alone again. Everyone I love leaves me and I’m so lost and alone. I don’t want to feel like this. I never wanted to feel like this again. I want it to stop.”

“Where are you, kid? I’ll come and get you.”

“No, please don’t. I’m begging you.”

“You’re at the bridge, aren’t you?” Lee’s answer is silence. “Listen. If I can’t pick you up, then you have to promise me you’ll go home. You can visit me tomorrow if you want.”

“Thank you, Hank.”

Lee never audibly agreed, but Hank knows her. “I’ll see you tomorrow, kid.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can catch me on Tumblr [@tethrass](http://tethrass.tumblr.com) and my co-author [@tssoni](http://tssoni.tumblr.com). Thank you so much for reading! We'd love to hear any feedback you may have in the comments.


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